Life Or Not
by animemastr21
Summary: Fresh out of high school, an eighteen year old Videl must find a way to make a living on her own when her father's secret is revealed to the public. Gohan, also eighteen years old, leaves home to make a difference in the world, but something goes wrong an
1. Chapter 1

Summary: What would happen if Gohan and Videl never met in high school? What if Hercule's secret was finally revealed? What if that left Videl to fend for herself? Fresh out of high school, an eighteen year old Videl must find a way to make a living on her own when her father's secret is revealed to the public. Gohan, also eighteen years old, leaves home to make a difference in the world, but something goes wrong and he is forced to live in a way he never planned to. An incident brings the two together and they must fight to win their happy ending. But when the bad guys are unexpected and powerful, will they be able to win in the end?

Rating: PG13 for now, but may go up later on

Caregory: Mostly romance, plenty of angst, lots of action/adventure, drama also is included, and even some humor is added in

Warning: It has much AU in it, but not so much that it doesn't follow the main DBZ idea. Also, the characters may be OCC a little, but not so much that they seem like a different character altogether. Another warning; contains violence and some sexual content/suggestion, but not too much for now. Not much language problems if any either.

Disclaimer: Ok, I normally don't bother to put this because everyone knows that the people who write fanfics don't own the show. That's why they are called FANfics, hehe. No offense guys. So, don't sue me now cause I have a disclaimer.

As she stepped outside the small, unoriginal office building, she let a soft, frustrated sigh pass her lips. That was her fifth job rejection in the past month. It seemed as if all the employers she had interviewed with knew who she was, or, at least, who her father was.

About a year ago, the ever so famous Hercule had publicly been pronounced a fake. Apparently, the newsmen that were with him during the Cell games had been paid to keep quiet. As the years went by, Hercule had grown cocky, therefore stopping the payment of the men and replaced the money with threats. Gaining some courage, the men had come forth with this information, declaring Hercule a fake and the young delivery boy the real hero. Sadly, they were unable to identify the boy, leaving the world clueless as to the real hero.

Panic spread throughout the world at the lose of their protector. What were they suppose to do if another villain like Cell suddenly appeared? Taking what they thought the safest course of action, the world's leaders asked the young man to come forth. Then, taking the opportunity, many young teens came forth and claimed to be the boy, but all proving failure. So, still unable to find their true savior, they comforted the people with the thought that if ever the Earth was in need of his assistance, he would come out of hiding and rescue them. It seemed as if this amazing young man had become a legend for the people, one that they could depend on.

Now with his secret exposed, Hercule was forced to sell his mansion and move to a remote cabin on the outskirts of town. Wallowing in self pity, Hercule was too ashamed to show his face publicly again. He never left the house, forcing his teenage daughter to take care of him on her own.

Of course, it had came as the greatest shock to Videl, finding out that her father was not who he seemed. But what was worse was the fact that he had lied to her, his very own daughter, the only family he had left. But even so, she still loved him dearly and wanted to take care of him. She had tried her best to comfort him, but he would not have any of it, as if he enjoyed the self loathing and pity.

Quickly growing tired of it, Videl had given him the ultimatum; her or him. When he did not give her an answer, she packed and left the house in tears, wanting to never have to return again.

Forced now to take on the world as a young, inexperienced 18 year old girl, Videl managed to gain an apartment. Taking pity on the girl, the man in charge offered her a two month stay, no cost. After that, she had to pay for her stay. With a great amount of gratitude, Videl moved in and set out for a job. A month has pasts and there she was, still jobless.

Videl reached up to let her hand run through long, black locks of soft hair in frustration. She was so tired of being turned away just because of her father. It wasn't her fault that he had lied to everyone, taking the fame and fortune as only the greedy, selfish man he was would do. She felt she shouldn't have to be punished for it, too.

"Father, how could you?" She said softly to herself as she made her way toward the elevator of the office building. The place was rather boring, all the walls painted white, the carpet a tanish, off white color, the desk rooms all in a row- the first one the same as the last one. It was your typical, lower class business office of the now booming Capsule Corp. It was a dream of hers to work at a place like this with the now most famous person in the world, Bulma Briefs, as the person in charge. She had always admired the older women, even though she didn't know her personally. The only time she had ever even seen her up close was at one of her dad's business parties and that was more then most could say.

'Of course, I wouldn't want to work at a boring place like this anyway,' she thought to herself, trying to stop the tears from falling from her face. She was a tough girl, she wasn't going to cry over something as simple as this.

After what had seemed an eternity, the elevator pulled to a stop. As she stood there impatiently, the door opened and out walked a tall, black haired man. He was dressed in black slacks and a clingy, dark blue t-shirt with nice, black dress shoes to boot. From the way the shirt clung to his body, she could tell he was very well muscled. It was a simple outfit, but one that fit the man so well. With his spiky, thick black locks of hair, he was any girls dream man.

She stood frozen in place, unable to move out of the way with her breath unknowingly held as he walked toward her with his eyes upon the floor. Before they crashed completely though, he looked up just in time to side step the frozen girl, then entered the room next to the one she had just left from.

Videl stood there for another few seconds, trying to regain herself. The mysterious and incredibly handsome man had left as quickly as he had came, just like that. 'Just like everything else good in my life,' she thought solemnly to herself as she managed to pull out of her trance and enter the elevator before someone else could take it.

Pushing the G button, she waited calmly, trying to sort through her thoughts, as the elevator slowly made it's way back down to the garage. The annoying elevator music was playing in the back round, causing the already peeved young women to forget her attempt at being calm and become even more frustrated.

"Stupid music. I don't see the point of it," she softly muttered to herself. With all the changes she had been going through lately, she just couldn't relax anymore. Nothing seemed to calm her down enough.

The elevator slowed to a stop as it reached it's destination. The doors slid open to reveal the C section of the relatively large parking lot. With cars parked everywhere, it would be difficult to find her car. Thankfully though, Videl had parked specifically under the sign for section C, that way, she wouldn't spend the rest of the afternoon searching for her car.

After a quick search for the C sign, Videl made her way across the garage. Not more than a minute later, she had found the spot. The car parked there was a small car; a light blue honda with chipped paint, beat up seats, and a small dent in the passenger's door.

She then realized it; this wasn't her car. Embarrassed at her mistake, she blushed and scurried to the other side of the sign to find her actual car. It was a black eclipse with a leather interior, a CD player built in along with a navigational system, and all in perfect shape. Smiling, she pulled out her keys from the bag she kept all her job application papers in. She unlocked the driver's door and threw her bag on the passenger's seat as she sat down behind the wheel.

Before she pulled out of the parking lot, she put in her favorite CD and cranked up the volume. Satisfied, she pulled out of the garage and unto the road back home. As she made her way back to her new home in the apartments, she thought back to how she got her expensive car.

It had been her first week in her new apartment room and she was still without means of transportation. No busses passed through this part of town and the taxis generally avoided the area too, knowing that business was rare there.

It the first of many snowy days to come and with the lack of warmth, her room was an uncomfortable place to be in. So, in hope of finding a warmer place to stay, she wandered the halls of the apartments, hugging her coat closer to keep the cold out. She had reached the third floor and still with no luck, when a sudden gush of warm air reached her chilled cheeks. She looked up from the floor to see a man stepping out of his room. As soon as the door was closed though, the warm air was replaced with the same chilliness as before.

Frowning in disappointment, Videl hadn't noticed the man was looking at her with interest. Apparently, this girl was in need of a little warming. Smiling kindly, the man stepped forward out of the shadows.

She looked up at his face, but was surprised to find he had on slick sunglasses and the hood to his black coat up. He also had on a nice pair of dark blue jeans with black vans to top it off. She couldn't see anything else of him though, as if he was attempting to keep his identity hidden. When she thought about it though, it wasn't all that surprising. Most people who were occupying the building were the people in need of help; whether it was just for the sake of needing a place to live or if they were in some trouble for whatever reason. Ether way, a man in hiding was not uncommon there.

"Er, you look cold. Care to come in? I have a nice heating system set up," the man offered. He opened the door and stepped to the side to offer her entrance. Startled, Videl hesitated as she thought of the many possibilities it would present the man with. All was forgotten though when the heat met her face again.

Nodding her head in an usually shy manner, she followed him into the small apartment room. It was plain like her's with the white walls and gray carpet. As they moved further into his apartment, she also noticed he had slightly larger kitchen and living space. 'He probably has a larger bedroom, too. Wait, what am I thinking?! Keep your mind away from that,' she thought to herself as her cheeks began to redden slightly.

Entering the living room area, he made a gesture to the couch, indicating she should sit there. In an unsure manner, she took her seat on the slightly beat up black couch as he entered the kitchen. Not long later though, he returned with two steaming cups, one in each hand.

Offering her one of the cups, he asked, "Care for some hot chocolate?" She only nodded her head in reply and took the cup, sipping carefully on the hot drink.

He took a seat next to her on the couch, also sipping at the cup of hot chocolate. An uncomfortable silence took place after this. Videl fidgeted with the zipper of her coat as the man next to her would occasionally bring one hand up to fiddle with his sunglasses then bring it back down to check his watch.

After a while of silence, curiosity got the best of her and she forced herself to turn to him. "Why do you hid behind the sunglasses?" She asked.

Smiling kindly, he replied simply, "If I told you that, I would have to kill you." That had gained a small giggle from the women beside him. Satisfied, he continued, "To be honest, I have to keep my identity secret because of what I do. I've gained a lot of enemies from it so it's a way to protect myself and others."

Obviously interested by this, she continued her inspection of the man. "What do you do that forces you to hid just to protect yourself?"

Sighing, he set his cup down on the small table in front of them. Turning back to her, he answered, "It's not only to protect me, but others, too. If these men knew who I was, they would use the people I care for against me. As for what I do, well, I much rather you didn't know."

Videl looked at him oddly, but decided not to press him any further. Turning back to her cup of hot chocolate, the silence from before continued. Both the young adults seemed to be uncomfortable, but it wasn't all together an unpleasant sit.

Feeling he should play the part of host better, the man took that opportunity to ask Videl a few questions. "So, Videl, how are you liking are your stay here?" It seemed polite enough, a simple conversation starter.

"It's not so bad, just really cold. I like it fine," she answered unsurely. She paused, then looked to him and asked, "how do you know my name?"

He smiled and answered, "Roberts likes to brag about his 'generosity to the young Satan girl.'" They both chuckled at this, knowing how the manager of the apartment was. Finally, it seemed the ice between the two was broken with their share in an inside joke. They talked for 20 more minutes about little things, not going much into depth.

When the kitchen's clock went off, showing the time to be 7:00, the man suddenly jumped up in surprise. He cursed lightly under his breath, then turned to the raven haired women looking up at him questioningly.

"I've had a wonderful time talking to you, Videl. It's really nice to have some company over for once. We should do this real soon again, but as for right now, I've got to go," the man said as politely as he could. He took both cups and quickly put them in the kitchen sink before hurrying back out to the living room to help show Videl to the door.

He opened the door for Videl first before exiting right after her. The young adult then turned around and used his keys to lock the door behind him. Finally turning around to face her, he reached into his pocket and took a small object out. Gently, he stuffed it into her hands and walked past her to leave down the stairs.

Over coming her shock at last, Videl cried out after him, "Wait! I don't even know your name!" She was glad to see him stop before going down the stairs.

Turning to her, he yelled back, "I can't tell you now, but if you are meant to know, I look forward to that day!" With that said, the mysterious man ran down the stairs, the echo of his footsteps loud in her ears.

For some reason, she felt the urge to smile, so she did just that. The man confused her, yet intrigued her at the same time. His secretive ways drew her to him for some unknown reason. The fact that he had invited her into his home so readily and had talked to her so kindly, he even took care to make her hot chocolate and give her warmth, it all drew her to him. All this had given her more of a cause to feel a bond of sorts to him.

Still smiling, Videl walked back up the stairs to her apartment, the whole time never noticing the cold that she had been seeking to escape from before the encounter of her mystery man. Then suddenly, she realized she had something in her hand. Looking down, she found two one hundred dollar bills with a note. Too shocked to react, she simply opened the note and read:

Videl,

I know this isn't much, but I hope you'll find it of some use. I wish you well with your new apartment. Feel free to stop by my place anytime.

Sincerely,

someone who cares

Tears in her eyes, she smiled with such gratitude you would have thought he saved her life or something. 'That's the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me,' she thought, still with a large smile gracing her face. She put the note and money into her pocket before pulling out her keys and unlocking the door.

Right before she stepped in though, a thought hit as hard as a bag of bricks, 'when did he have the time to write the note?'

For about the next 3 weeks, she received $200 everyday and a sweet note of encouragement from the same mystery man of hers. She felt guilty taking the money, but every time she would try to give it back, she wound up finding the money at her doorstep all over again. She had then tried to give it back personally, but he was never home to talk to. Roberts said the man's job always kept him out all day and sometimes all night.

Finally, at the end of the 3 weeks, she had enough money to buy a car. Growing up with one car in mind, her dream car, she had taken only two days to find it at the cheapest price she thought possible. A black eclipse. Yes, life was good.

Turning into the parking lot, she had glimpsed her mystery man pulling out of the parking lot with a trailer full of his stuff attached to the back of his black ford. She felt her heart flutter when she saw him, then suddenly sink when she realized what the trailer meant; he was moving out.

Videl quickly parked her car, locked it, then ran into the main office of the building. She rushed into Roberts office and found him leaning back in his chair, starring at the pile of papers on his desk.

"Roberts, is it true that he's moving out?" startled, he fell back on the chair, barely recovering enough to prevent hitting his head on the cabinet behind him. Scrambling back up into a sitting position, the short, tubby old man looked up at the young women.

"Aw, Videl dear! How are you enjoying your stay? I hope all is satisfactory?" He questioned in a business like manner.

Impatiently, she answered, "It's fine. Thank you again for your kindness." When she received a nod from the man, she continued, "Is the man from room 78 really moving out?"

He looked at her questioningly, then sighed before saying, "Yes, I'm afraid so, Videl. He seemed in a big hurry to get out and on his way. A shame, too. He was such a nice young man. Did I tell you about how he saved my wife's life once?" When her mouth opened in surprise, he continued, "Oh yes, my wife had been terribly sick with a rare condition. No doctors seemed able to find a cure, when all of a sudden, he comes along. He took care of her while I was out looking for any doctor who could help us at all. When I came back empty handed, my wife and I were ready to give up, but he wouldn't have that. No, he told us to be patient while he was out looking for a doctor to help. What surprised us the most though was he returned with none other the Bulma Briefs herself. It seemed they were old friends by the way they acted. Anyway, Mrs. Briefs was able to find a cure after only an hour of examinations. She returned the next day with an antidote that worked perfectly. We tried to pay her, but she wouldn't take it. She said she was only repaying a favor for an old friend, then left. We were so amazed and grateful to her and the man that we gave him the best room we have; room 1. He refused it though, saying he much preferred his room, which I must say is a lot more comfortable then room 1. So there you have it, he saved my wife's life and yet I don't even know his name."

Videl was altogether too shocked to react to his story. She did the only thing she could; nodded her head and turned around to leave the room. Before she exited though, Roberts called her back so she turned to face him.

He reached across the table to hand her a folded up piece of paper before replying, "that man asked me to give you this."

Unfolding the paper, she was able to decipher the familiar hand writing of her favorite mystery man. On the piece of paper was written:

My dear Videl,

I regret telling you that I must leave this place now for reasons I can't say. I wish you well in life and hope you find happiness. Good luck with everything! Oh, by the way, Roberts and I have arranged a special present for you. Take it as a good bye present. I hope you like it. I'll miss you.

Sincerely,

someone who cares

'All these notes! Why didn't he just come and say good bye to me in person!' she thought angrily with tears in her eyes. 'Gosh darn it Videl! You cry for no one! You don't even know him!' Looking up from the paper and at Roberts, he smiled kindly as he got up from his chair and moved toward her.

"He's always leaving notes for everyone. You know, he hardly talks to anyone. Consider yourself lucky to have him welcome you like he did. He must really like you," Roberts said, the last part with a wink. Videl blushed furiously and denied it, but Roberts just chuckled before saying, "Come on now, let me show you the surprise he has arranged for you."

So, Videl followed him up the stairs and down the hallway until they reached the familiar room 78. He took a key from his pocket and opened the door, the whole time Videl keeping silent. Pushing the door open, he stepped to the side to reveal the not so empty apartment building. 'Why wouldn't he take all his stuff with him?' she thought to herself, until she looked closer. Her eyes widened as she realized that all of it wasn't just his stuff, but her stuff, too!

Shocked, she looked over to Roberts with the unspoken question in her eyes. Chuckling in delight, he grinned and said, "We just knew you'd like it. You see, he wanted to make sure you were comfortable and noticed that your room was a bit, er, drafty as he put's it. I disagree though! It's in top shape! Couldn't be better! Why, if I hadn't liked him so much, I would have given him a........" he trailed off as he noticed the glare on Videl's face. Clearing his throat, he continued, "Ah, right, so you see, he came up with the idea of giving you his this room. The finest room in the whole building if you ask me. Well, next to mine that is."

Overjoyed and grateful, she smiled an unreplaceable smile. She stepped inside her new apartment and was immediately greeted by the warmth of his heated room. Her cheeks regained their color as she walked further into the apartment, trailing her hand along all the furniture. She did a double take when she saw his old couch and table in it's same place. 'How did he know I needed them?' She thought to herself as she finished her inspection to find that not only was all the few possessions she had were there, but so were many of his things.

She walked back to Roberts and asked, "When did you find the time to do all this?" His smile widened when she asked, always enjoying his every chance to brag.

"Well, while you were out, he told me of his idea and I agreed readily. I gave him the spare key to your apartment and followed him to lend my hand. We moved all your things into his apartment and took the few things he wanted to bring with him to load them in his car," he explained.

"Wow, I, I don't know what to say. Thank you!" She exclaimed as she pulled the old man into a rarely given hug. Roberts patted her back, then pulled away, still smiling kindly.

"It was no problem at all, Videl. Besides, it was the other guy's idea and, being so young and strong, he did most of the work. If you ever get the chance again, thank him! I need to get back to my office now though, but I hope you enjoy the room!" He said as he left her room and made his way down the stairs.

Ever since then, Videl has enjoyed the apartment room thoroughly. It was always a warm, welcoming haven after a long day of searching for a job in the cold winter weather.

Smiling at the memory, she pulled into a parking space in the parking lot across the street from her apartment building. She gathered all her things in her arms, then pushed open the door. Carefully, she put her high heel shoe down on the icy ground, only to slip and fall back on her seat.

Grumbling, she reached down and slid them off her feet and threw them into the backseat. She then reached back to get her coat and shoes she had brought along just in case. 'A good thing, too. I mean, it hasn't snowed this much since I don't know when. And it's almost spring, too!' she thought to herself as she tied her snow boots and buttoned up her thick, black snow coat.

Satisfied, she gathered up all her things again and attempted to get out of the car safely. She sighed gratefully when she didn't slip this time. Before closing the door, she locked the car and put the keys into her coat pocket. Too busy thinking about her limited stay in her apartment room, she turned without realizing her coat had gotten stuck in the car door. She was jerked back and fell onto the icy floor.

Quickly, she jumped up and looked from side to side to make sure that no one had seen her embarrassing display of clumsiness. She sighed in relieve when she discovered that indeed not a single person in view had seen her. She reached back and pulled her coat out of the car door, then made her way across the large parking lot.

Finally, she had made it across the parking lot and was preparing to cross the hardly used side road when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a mysterious figure cloaked in black. He seemed average sized with very long, spiky hair and dressed all in black. Panicking slightly, she rushed to the other side of the road and into a back alleyway. Videl grew further afraid when she spotted the man following her into the same alley. Breaking into a full on sprint, she turned a corner, only to be grabbed around the neck by another man dressed all in black. This man though was a gigantic man with spiky red-orange hair and bulging muscles.

Terrified, she fought back as hard as she could, but it was no use; the man was too strong. 'What's wrong with me?! I've fought off millions of criminals before, so why I can't I now?! But, but, he's so strong! He's not like any other criminal I've fought before,' she managed to think to herself as she continued to struggle against the man's tight grip. When strength seemed to get her no where, she resorted to other means of escape. With one of his arms around her neck, it wasn't very hard for Videl to bite down on it.

Surprised, she looked up at the man as he laughed out loud. "You think _that_ could harm _me_?! Ha, don't make me laugh! You have no idea who you are dealing with, do you? Let me introduce myself then. I am the ever famous Jok, assistant to........" the man, now known as Jok, was interrupted before he could finish.

"That's enough, Jok! The boss would not be pleased to hear you giving away such information to our victims," the man, who had been chasing Videl before, said. He had rounded the corner now and was leaning up against the wall, watching Jok hold Videl close to himself.

"Shut the heck up, Trajeta! I don't give a crap what the boss thinks! He has stupid rules anyway! I mean, if we find the girls, we should have a chance at them too, right?! Oh, but no, he wants to be the first for every single girl, then gives them to us when he's done! Like we don't deserve any better! To heck with him! I'm gonna have my way with this girl first for once!" Jok yelled in frustration. He spun Videl around so that she was pushed up against the wall. He used one arm to pin both her arms to the wall while he used his own body to keep hers in place. Jok sneered at her as he used his free hand to run up and down her body.

Trajeta turned his back at the sight and slowly started to make his way back down the alley. As he walked away, he called back over his shoulder, "ok, do as you like. Just remember how the boss gets about these kinds of things. Don't come crawling back to me if you end up in worlds of trouble."

Jok just grunted in reply and continued to use his large hands to travel across the young women's body. He didn't even bother to notice when the tears started to run down her face.

'Help! Someone help! Please........please, help me........someone, anyone! Please.......just help me............' she thought to herself since she seemed unable to find her voice to say it out loud. She felt the tears run down her cheeks as her heart was filled with horror and despair. 'No, no, this can't be it! I can't just give up and let it end like this! I've always been a fighter and I'm not gonna change that now,' she thought to herself, then shuddered in disgust when she felt Jok trail his tongue down her neck.

She waited until his guard was down enough for her to attempt her new plan of escape. He had pulled back from her slightly, as to remove her shirt, when she decided to put the plan in play. She stepped off to the side, causing her shirt to tear in the process, then brought her knee up as hard as she could mange, right into his crotch. She was so relieved to see him cry out and fall to the floor holding the damaged body part, that she almost forgot what to do next.

Taking off down a different alleyway, she ran at full speed. She didn't know where she was going, all she knew was that she had to get away, and fast. She reached another turn in the confusing alleyway system and took the new alleyway to her left, only to find that she had ended up across the street from the parking lot again. She sighed in relieve when she realized she had her car to get away in. She picked up speed and ran to it, never even bothering to look over her shoulder to see if she was being followed.

She had finally reached the automobile and was pulling at the handle when she remembered she had locked the car earlier. Reaching down in her pocket, she was about to pull out her keys when she finally realized, not only was the coat with her keys in it missing, but so was her shirt.

As if on cue, an icy cold breeze passed by, making Videl shiver. She wrapped her arms around her chest the best she could and took off running again. Tears ran down her cheeks constantly as she kept sprinting and the sense of urgency and despair grew overwhelming. The constant conflict of emotions caused her to lose concentration and fall several times while she ran.

Finally reaching the other side of the large parking lot, she was met with a children's playground. Being so late at night, there was no one there, so she was able to stumble her way through without any questions asked. As she ran past the swings though, she stumbled again on the ice and fell into the freezing snow. Now soaked from head to toe and shivering uncontrollably, she was as miserable as it could get. Exhausted, she attempted to get up again. She managed to slowly make it to her knees before she collapsed back into the snow. She could no longer find the will to keep going so she just curled up into a ball and let out heart wrenching sobs.

When the tears would no longer come, she slowly closed her eyes to rest. They suddenly snapped open when she heard a crunching in the snow behind her. Her heart pounded in terror when she remembered the men from before. Carefully, she turned to her other side to find the source of the noise.

Sighing in more relief then she thought she should feel at the time, she saw a small boy standing in the snow looking at her. He looked to be not much older then nine, maybe ten years old. He had black, spiky hair that stuck up everywhere in an impossible way and a kind face that held a sense of innocents. She met his coal black eyes with her own blue ones and saw compassion and love, even an unexplainable strength. 'If his eyes are the last thing I see in this world, I can die in peace,' she thought to herself as she continued to stare into his eyes.

He knelt down beside her in the snow and held out a hand. "Are you ok, lady?" He asked sweetly in a caring tone of voice.

She tried to answer him, but nothing would come out. She opened her mouth and tried again, but still nothing came out. A fresh tear ran down her cheek and she was surprised to find that young boy had taken his outstretched hand to wipe it away.

"Don't cry, pretty lady, I'm here. I'll help you, don't worry. Here, take this," he said as he took the coat from around him and put it across her exposed flesh. Of course, it didn't cover all of her, but it immediately took affect and began to warm her up. She managed to smile at him as another tear of gratitude ran down her cheek.

"Big brother always tells me that if I can make a difference, then I should try my best to do so. He also told me to never, ever give up," he said as he finished covering her with his jacket. "Do you feel warm now, pretty lady?" The young boy asked as he smiled down at the young women.

Videl tried to tell him yes, but only managed to nod her head in agreement. The boy's smile brightened, then slowly became a frown. "But, lady, you're still shivering and you're all blue. What happened? Come on, we should get you out of here, ok lady?" he asked again as he reached his small arms around her and lifted her up into a sitting position with surprising strength. He let her lean up against him since she was too weak to support herself.

Suddenly, the picture of the two men flashed across her mind as she remembered why she was in the snow in the first place. Somehow regaining some strength from the memory, she pushed the boy away from her and managed to croak out, "no, what are you doing here?! You must get away! Now! Hurry!" She attempted to climb to her feet, but only managed to fall back into the snow.

The little boy looked confused and helped her up into a sitting position again before saying, "What do you mean? I came here to see big brother, but he moved again. He moves all the time and never comes to visit anymore. He promised he wouldn't leave me and that he would always take care of me. Especially after........." he trailed off as a few tears managed to make there way down his cheeks. He quickly wiped them away with the sleeve of his shirt and gave her a watery smile. "I think you need to get to a warmer place, lady."

She smiled back at him and was about to let him help her to her feet when she saw the two figures behind him. "Look out!" she cried in horror, but it was too late; Jok had already kicked the boy to the side. She cried out for the boy as she watched his small body skim across the snow and crash into a nearby tree.

She looked back to the men in time to see Jok bring his arm down to smack her across her face. "You worthless wench! How dare you! I ought to finish you off right here, right now!" Jok yelled at Videl, who was now lying face first in the snow with the boys jacket still around her.

She coughed up some blood and watched in a daze as it colored the snow red. She then reached up and touched her cheek where he had hit her and felt blood oozing from a gash just under her left eye. She winced in pain and turned around to look at Jok and Trajeta, but gasped in surprised when she saw Jok fall to the ground, followed by Trajeta.

It seemed the young boy had somehow not only survived, but had knocked both men down with two swift kicks. He landed next to the men and crouched in a fighting position as he waited for the two men to get back up. Trajeta was the first one up, but Jok was not far behind.

Jok wiped the blood away from the corner of his mouth and let out a chuckle as he studied the boy. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? You know, you're quite strong, little boy, but not nearly strong enough to defeat me!" Jok cried out as he charged at the young boy.

Videl watched in awe as the boy easily side stepped the charge and landed a punch in the man's stomach. Jok didn't seem harmed at all, which, for some reason, seemed to surprise the boy. This time though, the boy was the first one to charge. Just before he punched Jok in the face though, he fazed out and showed up behind Jok. He then did a roundhouse kick that landed on Jok's head and sent him into the snow, head first.

Before Videl could see what happened next though, Trajeta showed up behind her and grabbed, one hand on her mouth. He turned to his partner and yelled, "I've got the girl, go ahead and do as you please with the boy," then threw Videl over his shoulder.

Jok sprung back up from the snow in a fighting position of his own, then answered with a grunt and a nod. Trajeta nodded back and began to run faster then thought possible in the other direction. Videl cried out for the young boy as she watched Jok land a kick to the boys stomach, only to be punched in the face by the boy.

Before long, the fighting pair were out of sight and she was being thrown into the back of a black van. She bounced off of the back wall and fell to the freezing, metal floor. Trajeta slammed the doors shut then rushed to the driver's seat and started the vehicle. As he pulled onto the road, Videl was thrown against the van's doors, causing her to gain a large bump on her forehead.

'Is this it? Is this the end?' she thought to herself. Suddenly, the image of the young boy popped into her head as he said, "Big brother always tells me that if I can make a difference, then I should try my best to do so. He also told me to never, ever give up." He then smiled at her and gave her his jacket, the only thing keeping him warm. 'I can't give up now. No, never, ever,' she thought to herself one last time as she snuggled into the boy's jacket, which had somehow managed to stay on her the whole time, before darkness surrounded her completely.

A/N: So, what'd ya think? Please review and tell me! I really want to know what people think of it and I would really appreciate some advice. I know I need to improve, but I need you to tell me what it is that needs the most improving. Please review though guys! I'll love ya forever! Lol

I'd like to give a special thanks to amerowolf for all your help! Thank you so much! I appreciate it tons! Hehe


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: What would happen if Gohan and Videl never met in high school? What if Hercule's secret was finally revealed? What if that left Videl to fend for herself? Fresh out of high school, an eighteen year old Videl must find a way to make a living on her own when her father's secret is revealed to the public. Gohan, also eighteen years old, leaves home to make a difference in the world, but something goes wrong and he is forced to live in a way he never planned to. An incident brings the two together and they must fight to win their happy ending. But when the bad guys are unexpected and powerful, will they be able to win in the end?

Rating: PG13 for now, but may go up later on

Caregory: Mostly romance, plenty of angst, lots of action/adventure, drama also is included, and even some humor is added in

Warning: It has much AU in it, but not so much that it doesn't follow the main DBZ idea. Also, the characters may be OCC a little, but not so much that they seem like a different character altogether. Another warning; contains violence and some sexual content/suggestion, but not too much for now. Not much language problems if any either.

Disclaimer: Ok, I normally don't bother to put this because everyone knows that the people who write fanfics don't own the show. That's why they are called FANfics, hehe. No offense guys. So, don't sue me now cause I have a disclaimer.

"Mom! No! Please no! Mommy!" Goten yelled with tears running down his face as his big brother tried to explain what had happened.

Silent tears ran down the older boys cheeks as he watched his younger brother cry out, only to be wiped away violently. 'No, I must be strong! I have to be strong, for him. Oh Kami, why! This is too much! Just too much,' he thought to himself before wrapping the small boy into his arms in a tight hug.

"Goten," he croaked out. He cleared his throat and started again, "Goten, don't worry, we'll get her back! You just have to have faith, trust me. I know it hurts, but you have to be brave! Be brave for mom, ok?" he gave a strained smile to the child in his arms before pulling him into a hug.

Whimpering, Goten replied, "o-ok big brother. But, but why! Why was mom taken from us! What can we do?" The small boy pulled back from his big brother's hug to look the older boy in the eyes, hope clearly evident there.

Looking him in the eye, he answered the boy, "Goten, never, ever give up! Don't you ever lose that hope, ok?" he waited for Goten to nod his head in agreement before he continued. "I don't know exactly what we can do, but I do know that if I can make a difference, then I should try my best to do so and you should, too. I don't just mean with mom though, but with everyone and everything, ok? Do you we have a deal?"

Goten smiled a watery smile up at his brother, then nodded his head in reply. "Ok big brother, it's a deal," he said, then suddenly his smile turned to a frown. He looked back up at his brother and asked, "Big brother? You won't ever leave me, right?"

To say the least, the young man was shocked. 'Why would he ever think that!' he asked himself, then spoke his thoughts out loud, "Of course not! Why would you ever think that?"

Goten just shrugged his shoulders and wiped away the remaining tears on his cheeks. He wrapped his small arms around his big brother's neck and hugged him tight. The two sat there in each others embrace until it came time to leave to their new home.

Gohan sat up straight in his bed as the memories came flooding back into his dream. He sighed out loud and ran shaky fingers through his thick locks of black hair. Ever since that day, everything seemed to go wrong. His life had been turned upside down and there was no going back.

Swinging his legs over the side of his bed, he checked the alarm clock on the table next to his bed, only to find that it was 7:00 AM. 'Wow, I'm actually up early for once,' he thought to himself tiredly as he pulled the rest of his body out of bed and into the bathroom. Once there, he turned on the shower and waited until the water was steaming from the heat. He then stripped out of his boxers and climbed in.

As he cleaned himself in the shower, he pondered over the constant memories that had been robbing him of his sleep as of late. He remembered the day he found the note laid on the broken down door of his house, then of the day he had to tell Goten about the contents of the note. He then remembered the day that he and his brother moved into the Brief's house for lack of any where else to say. Last, he remembered the terrible day when he was forced to begin his new life, that new life that he hated so. Once the memories became more detailed, he shut them all out as he did every other time. They were just too painful.

Finished, he turned off the water and grabbed a nearby towel. After he dried himself off, he wrapped it neatly around his bare flesh and exited the bathroom. Before getting dressed though, he pulled out the top desk drawer and removed a piece of paper. He looked back down at it and tried to decipher any clue he might have missed before, but it was no use; what he was looking for simply wasn't there. He put that piece of paper back, then removed another. He studied it with a smile, for on it was his beloved mother, along with he and his brother standing happily beside her. It was taken not too long ago at his eighteenth birthday and everyone was so happy. 'Why must things be this way! Why Kami? Why!' he thought to himself sadly as he again put the picture back into the drawer before closing it.

He walked over to where his clothes sat nicely folded on his desk drawer, when all of a sudden, realization dawned on him. He rushed back over to the drawer and pulled out the note again. He quickly read over it for the second time that day.

To whom it concerns,

We have found this women very appealing for our association and have decided to take her for our own delight. We can assure you that she will be taken care of well enough and that she will not be killed at our hands. Do not bother looking for her.

That was it; not even a signature, or so he thought. As he looked closer though, he noticed that there had been some form of a signature, but it was covered by white out. He raised the slip of paper high over his head to look at it through the light. Symbols, that must have been some means of writing, shown threw, but he was unable to decipher them fully. He scratched at the white out and as he did so, the symbols became more clear.

"What do these symbols mean! They make no sense!" He said out loud in frustration since the writing was foreign to him. In a storm of anger, he threw the letter onto his bed and reached for his clothes to get dressed for work.

Once he was prepared for the day, he looked back at the small slip of paper on his bed. Sighing, he walked over and picked it up. Studying it once again, he was suddenly struck with an idea. In a rush of excitement, he shoved the paper into his pocket and practically ran out the door.

He hopped into his black ford and pulled out of the parking space and onto the road. Driving a little faster then he probably should have, he arrived at work in record time. The young man jumped out of his truck, taking only a moment to lock it, and ran into the building.

He pressed the button for the elevator, then tried his best to stand still and wait patiently for it to arrive. When it didn't arrive after a minute or so, he decided it wasn't worth the wait and rushed to the stairway, only to run up the stairs at an impossible speed.

Finally, he reached the top of the stairs and burst threw the door, managing to startle all the employees working at the time. Grinning sheepishly, he realized that in his hurry, he had torn the door from off it's hinges. He leaned the door up against a nearby wall and said a few, quick apologizes, then went back on his path to his original destination.

The golden letters reading "Bulma Brief's Office" were hung on the white door at the end of the hallway, letting Gohan know that he had made it to his destination at last. Swinging the door open, this time being careful as to not tearing it off it's hinges, he was met with the scene of Bulma Briefs chatting with two older, business-like men.

"Look, I don't care if he says it was an accident! I'm still suing him for everything he's worth! Face it, he was caught red handed and is going to pay the price!" Bulma explained in an angry manner.

"Please, Mrs. Briefs, try to understand his predicament! We were sent here to..." the taller of the two men said before he was cut off by Gohan's entrance. This man had gray hair now, slicked back neatly. He had on a black suit with a dark blue tie and nice black dressy shoes. His shoulders were rather broad and his skin had a tan complection. His partner though was older and hunched over from age. This man had more white in his hair then gray and his skin was rather pale looking. Like his younger partner, he had a black suit on and black dress shoes, but with a red tie. The one thing that stood out about this man though was his piercing blue eyes and the superior way he carried himself.

Bulma looked up at Gohan and a smile spread across her face upon seeing him. "Gohan! I'm so glad to see you! Sweety, could you give me and these men one more minute? I'll be with you right after that, ok?"

Nodding his head, he left the room and closed the door behind him. He stood by the door and listened to the voices slowly grow louder until he heard it go quiet, then Bulma's voice broke the silence telling the men to leave now. Bouncing up and down on his heels, Gohan tried his best to wait patiently for his chance to speak with her.

In a display of obvious upset, the men exited the room with indignant looks on their faces. Bulma appeared at the doorway after they left with obvious dislike and anger on her face. Confused, Gohan stood looking back and forth between Bulma and the men, then gave up and waited for Bulma to cool off.

Letting out a much emphasized sigh, Bulma ran a hand through her blue hair before turning to face Gohan with a large smile. "Now, what was all the hurry for? You don't normally come rushing to work, especially," she paused as she looked up at the small clock hanging on the wall, "this early."

"Bulma, I have something urgent I need to talk to you about in _privacy_," he emphasized looking over at a now starring secretary. Frantically, the young woman looked away, embarrassed to be caught eavesdropping.

"Aw, I see. Come with me into my office, Gohan," the older woman said. Practically jogging, he rushed into the room and sat down while Bulma locked the door behind her. She went and sat down across from Gohan and watched as he pulled out something from his pocket.

Giving Bulma the letter he had been examining earlier, he watched her carefully. With a sad look in her eyes, she faced Gohan and said, "Sweety, you know I've already seen this many times before. I've told you, there's nothing we can do right now. I'm sorry, so sorry. Your mother was my best friend and I miss her just as much as you do, but..." before she could continue though, Gohan interrupted her.

"No, Bulma, look closer," he said. When she seemed confused as to what he was talking about, he decided to just show her. "Look, put this up against the light and tell me what you see at the bottom of the paper." Doubtful, she raised the paper above her head and looked at the place she had been told to look. She couldn't help the gasp of surprise that escaped her lips at the sight of the mysterious writing. "You see? I don't know why I didn't see it before! All that time and I never once thought to examine it closer. But, what I don't get is what kind of language is this? Is it some kind of code or an actual language I haven't heard of before?"

Wide eyes, Bulma looked at the handsome young man and said, "I-I've seen this kind of writing before. It looks, no, it can't be!" When Gohan urged her on, she continued. "It looks like the books Vegeta reads. It looks like Sayian!"

Quickly, Bulma pulled Gohan out of her office and down the stairs until they reached the parking lot. Gohan climbed into the passenger seat while Bulma explained to the panicking secretary from before that she was heading for an urgent business meeting and that all her meetings for the rest of the morning are to be canceled.

Finally, Bulma was able to pull out of the parking lot. She sped rather quickly down the road until she reached the enormous building of none other then the original Capsule Corp. Both passengers jumped out of the car and rushed into the building.

Knowing where her husband would be, Bulma led Gohan through the complicated hallways, of which he had already sorted out from living there for a year, until they reached the gravity room. She entered the password, but was surprised when she couldn't open it. She reentered the code and once again, nothing happened. Angry, she pulled out a card from her purse and slide it through the slot while muttering, "he thinks he can just lock me out by changing the password, does he? Well, I'll show him. What, did he think I didn't have a key of some kind that will unlock every room? That's it, he's sleeping on the coach tonight!"

Gohan looked at her hesitantly, grateful he wasn't Vegeta at the moment. 'Is it just me or is there fire coming out of her eyes? Hehehe...' he though to himself as he followed her into the gravity room.

Sweat pouring down his face, Vegeta immediately stopped his training and looked at the two intruders with a glare. "Woman! Can't you see I'm training! Why'd you think I changed the code! I don't want you in here!" He yelled, then smirked when he saw Gohan standing behind her. "So, you've brought the weakling with you. What is it this time? Is he still crying over his harpy of a mother's disappearance?"

Gohan's ki shot up when he heard Vegeta's comment. With a murderous look in his eyes, he yelled back at Vegeta, "Don't you ever talk about my mother like that!" He was about to fly up and punch the smirking Sayian in the face, but his arm was grabbed by an angry Bulma.

"That's it, Vegeta! You've gone too far! YOU'RE SLEEPING ON THE COACH! AND NO FOOD FOR A WEEK!" Bulma screamed at him. She was about to rant on, but remembered why she was there so she calmed herself down. "Look, Vegeta," she continued, "Gohan found some writing on the bottom of the note they left for his mother and we suspect that it might be sayian. Come and take a look at this."

Grumbling, Vegeta took the paper from Bulma's hand and scanned it. He looked up at her with a look that read "you have got to be kidding". Before he could ask her if she was crazy, she said, "It's at the bottom. Hold it up to the light." He did as she said, still glaring, and held the paper to the light.

With a surprised, but angry look on his face, he replied, "What! How do these, these imbeciles, know sayian!" Both Bulma and Gohan looked at him anxiously, waiting for him to continue. "It's says 'Trajeta, Jok, Gotah, and Nabba, loyal servants of The Master, leader and founder of the UPO, Universal Predator Organization'."

So shocked was Gohan, that he was unable to even articulate the question burning on his mind. He had to ask though, so he swallowed all the other many questions he knew Vegeta would be unable to answer to ask the most important one, "Vegeta, does this mean that there are other Sayians alive in this world?"

"Of course not, boy! I am the only full blooded Sayian left and you and the other brats are the only half blooded Sayains. I don't know how these imbeciles know the sayian language, but I would have felt their presence if there was any Sayians alive," Vegeta answered calmly, but Bulma wasn't fooled; she could see he was hiding something.

"Gohan, why don't you go on home now and rest. Don't worry about work today, you can have it off! Oh, and if we find out anything else, I'll let you know, ok?" Bulma told the lost looking young man beside her. All she got was a reluctant nod before he left to fly back to the office and get his car. 'The poor boy! He's gone through so much already, I just don't know how much more he can take. No, I can't think like that! He is strong, possibly the strongest man in the universe; he can take care of himself. He'll be fine, right?' she thought to herself with much worry after Gohan left.

Back in his apartment building, Gohan laid on his bed lost in thought. 'I, I don't get it! Someone who knows sayian is the leader of UPO? That doesn't make sense! Why couldn't I tell this earlier? They're the ones who took my mother! How could they! And this whole time, I...that's it, I've made up my mind. Tonight I'm going to make some changes.'

He got himself off the bed and looked at the clock. It read 11:30, which meant he still had about nine hours until he had to leave. Not sure what to do on his time off, he decided the best thing to do would be to visit his brother at school. He promised he wouldn't leave his brother alone, but as time went by, he had been forced to move out. After that, his visits slowly decreased until almost never. He decided today would be the best day to spend with his little brother.

Gohan arrived at Orange Star Jr. High, where his brother had been sent after they decided he'd do best to skip a few grades. So, Gohan walked up to the office and asked for where his brother's room would be. He thanked the lady once she told him Goten's room at the moment was 83, then walked off in the direction she pointed to. 'Man, I wish I could have gone to school like Goten does. It looks like such a fun place,' he thought to himself as he passed the many rooms.

After a few minutes of walking, he came upon the room 83. Hesitantly, he knocked on the door and waited for a reply. He heard the teacher tell the class to calm down, then the red, beat up door opened wide to revel an anxious class and their teacher. She was a young looking lady with brown hair to her shoulders and a maroon dress on that reached her knees. She also had on nice black shoes to match the dress and chocolate brown eyes. From what Gohan could tell, she didn't seem to be much older then him.

"Er, hi. Um, I'm here to pick up my brother, Goten. This is his room, right?" he asked the teacher in front of him. He then peered around her when he heard an excited whisper. Confused, he looked back at the teacher with a questioning look.

Startled, the teacher stepped aside for Gohan to enter the classroom also. When he stepped in, Goten jumped out of his seat and yelled, "Gohan! What are you doing here?"

Smiling, Gohan watched Goten run up beside him. Ruffling his hair, he said, "Hey there, squirt. I got today off from work and I was wondering if you wanted to hang out. What do you say?" Goten's eyes lite up as a grin reached his face. He nodded his head excitedly, then turned to his teacher.

She was caught starring at Gohan with a dreamy look on her face. Noticing that the two boys' attention had been turned back to her, she couldn't help the blush that reached he face. "Oh, um, right. You can be excused from the work for today, Goten," she said as she walked over to her desk and pulled out some paper. "I just need you to read this chapter so you can be prepared for the test tomorrow," she said as she wrote the pages on the paper.

While Goten was discussing the assignment with his teacher, Gohan looked over Goten's class members. He blushed and let out a nervous laugh when he saw the girls looking excitedly at him and whispering amongst themselves with girly giggles. Most of the guys tried to look bored by this, but some couldn't help their curiosity and glanced casually at him. A few even glared at him because of the attention he was getting. 'Ok, I've changed my mind. I'm glad I didn't have to go to school if it'd be like this,' he thought to himself when he saw Goten walking back to hi, still with the grin on his face.

"Ah, right. Is everything all set so we can go?" he asked. He looked back at the teacher and she winked at him. His cheeks reddened again and he looked away, hoping the color would fade away soon.

"You bet! Let's go!" Goten said with much enthusiasm and turned to wave at his classmates. He then stuck his tongue out at the jealous kids and walked out the door. Gohan followed after him and turned to close the door. Before he shut it completely though, he saw the young teacher blow a kiss at him. He blushed harder and closed the door quickly after that.

Turning to face Goten, he asked, "Is your teacher always like that?" Goten seemed to think about this for while. They were now walking out past the office toward the parking lot.

Goten then answered, "No, she's normally really strict and gets angry at us. Hm, she must really like you," he said with a smirk. The young sayian normally was very childish about things, but he had quick wits about him and after being in jr. high, certain things were rubbed off on him.

The blush remained on his face as Gohan said, "What! No way! You're imaging things! And since when have you been such an expert on how people feel, huh?"

Goten just shrugged his shoulders, still with the same knowing smile on his face. He examined the slip of paper still in his hand and turned it around. On the back was written these words:

Sexy, Give me a call at 123-4567

An even wider grin then from before crossed Goten's face after reading this. "Hey, Gohan! I think Ms. Ashton left you a little note."

Giving Goten a curious look, he took the paper presented to him and flipped it over. He read the back side of it and, once again, his face went red. He tried to act cool for his little brother, but he ended up being rather obvious about it.

"So," Goten began, always with that knowing smirk, "are you going to call her?" He watched Gohan's face, red with embarrassment, turn from trying to be cool to shock.

"What! Of course not!" he answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. They reached his truck and climbed in. Goten fiddled with the radio while Gohan started the car.

"Why not? It would do you good to have a girlfriend for once. Not to mention it'd get me an easy A," Goten commented. A song came on that he liked so he cranked up the volume. 'Besides, before mom was taken, she was very obsessive about Gohan finding himself the love of his life. She wanted the grandchildren badly and I want to be an uncle!' Goten thought to himself.

Gohan tried to yell a retort above the music, but Goten seemed unable to hear him so he gave up on trying to explain his reasoning. 'Besides, this is a time to enjoy being with your brother, not talking about such serious things,' Gohan thought absentmindedly.

It was 7:00 when the two boys arrived at the Capsule Corp. Original building. Laughing, the both of them entered the building and headed to where Goten was staying. Before they got very far though, a shadow emerged from down the hall.

Before he knew it, Gohan had punches and kicks thrown at him this way and that. He dodged and blocked every last one of them with ease. Soon, they stopped altogether and he was able to see his attacker; none other then Trunks himself.

"Not bad, Gohan. I can see you haven't gone to waste. But did you see me! I'm getting faster and better! Watch your back cause soon I'm going to be able to beat you, Gohan!" Trunks said in his cocky manner. The young Sayian then looked over at Goten and asked, "Where have you been? Mom's been throwing a fit ever since you didn't show up when you were suppose to. You're gonna get it now!"

Goten looked scared at that, all the possible punishments he would get ran through his mind. Gohan saved him the worry though when he said, "don't worry, I'll talk to Bulma and explain everything to her. She'll understand. Now, go get your homework done and get to bed." He surprised himself with how much he sounded like his mother right there.

Goten sighed with relief then gave his brother a quick hug and goodbye before he was dragged off by his best friend to go play. Gohan just shook his head at them and went off to find Bulma. Not surprising him in the least bit, he quickly found Bulma pacing in her study room. He cleared his throat to get her attention and she looked up with a very stressed look on her face.

"Gohan! I'm so glad you're here! I've got terrible news. You see, um, your brother, well, he kinda didn't show up when he was suppose to today and I don't know where he is and I'm so worried!" she said rather quickly, tears threatening to roll down her face.

He couldn't help, but feel bad for making her worry so. He grabbed her by the shoulders and said, "Calm down, Bulma! He's alright! I'm sorry I made you so worried, but I just took him out for the day. I didn't know it would be this big of a deal. I'm sorry."

She sighed with a great amount of relief and asked, "So he's safe back at home now?" she waited for Gohan to answer with a quick "yes" then suddenly grew angry. "Why didn't you call! I've been so worried and all for nothing! I mean, he could have been killed! Or lost and hungry somewhere! Or what if he..." she continued her ranting, but Gohan quickly zoned it out. It was a skill he had learned from his father long ago to zone out the long lectures Chi Chi use to give.

"Gohan! Are you even listening to me! Oh, just forget it. I'm glad everything's ok now," Bulma said once she noticed her listener's attention was elsewhere at the moment.

A small smile reached his face before he looked down at his watch. He quickly gave Bulma a hug and said, "I'm really sorry I made you worry like that. I promise to tell you next time. I've got to get running now though so I can't stay and talk more. Thanks for the day off!"

"Not a problem, Gohan. Now, it's been a long day for you and I want you to go home and rest, ok? Oh, and don't worry," she added when she saw there was something he wanted to say still, "I won't tell Goten about what we found out today. He doesn't need to be worried about the sayian writing."

He smiled gratefully, then left from where he came. He drove back to his apartment building and got dressed up for his next big task of the day. He was nervous about what he must do, but there was no turning back from it now. With a grave look on his face, he grabbed his stuff and climbed back into the truck.

After a relatively long drive, he arrived at his destination. It was a worn down office building that at one point may have been used for Capsule Corp, but a fire had caused it's location to be moved. Somehow, the building was restored by it's new occupants who have used it for their organization ever since.

He took a deep breath as he entered the building, trying to act as normal as he usually did. He walked down the dark hall, things as quiet as they normally were. He saw a few men drudge by in their dark clothing and he nodded in acknowledgment of them like he usually did each time.

After a short walk, he found himself in front of the door to the main office room where his boss would most likely be. Shaking all the doubts out of his head, he hesitantly knocked on it. He heard a gruff "come in" and slowly opened the door to peer inside.

The room was plain and as ordinary as all the other ones in the building. It had few papers hung on the wall to remind the boss of their latest missions and a large desk stood in the middle, with the blinds to the window behind it pulled down. The air was thick with smoke from the many cigarettes Gohan was sure his boss had a day. The only light that came from the room was that of a small lamp placed on the desk beside the stacks of paper. Altogether, the room wasn't very promising.

The man Gohan sought after sat quietly behind the desk and watched as Gohan entered. He looked as if he had seen much of life for his eyes were hard, unsmiling and his face was worn. He appeared to be tall, but when sitting down, it was nearly impossible to tell. His broad shoulders gave the impression of great strength and his fine clothing hinted at wealth. He looked to be in his late thirties and had dark brown hair that almost looked black. Anyone's first impression of him was never very good and very intimidating. A matter of fact, the ones after that were hardly much better.

With a stern face, Gohan's boss asked, "Number 72, is it?" Gohan gulped and nodded. That was the code name he went under, along with the mask he was wearing, given to him when he first started his job. The boss then asked, "What do you need?" He quirked his eyebrow in question and waited for a reply.

Playing with the collar of his shirt, Gohan tried to gain his courage for what he was about to do. "Um, sir," he began, "There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Oh, is that so? Hm, if you must then hurry it up cause I'm putting you on the all-nighter for tonight," his boss said in a bored tone of voice. He shuffled some paper and stacked them back up carefully, as if it made some kind of difference.

Still nervous, he couldn't quite find the nerve to ask what he needed to ask. "Well, you see, sir, I wanted to know exactly _what_ it is we do here?" he asked the dangerous looking man in front of him.

"Didn't you go over this with one of employees before?" the boss asked, then continued when Gohan shook his head. "No? Well what have you been told?"

Gohan looked surprised to be asked something like that, but soon his surprise changed into thoughtfulness. Slowly, he replied, "Well, I was told that we rescued young girls who had nowhere else to go and give them shelter. Oh, and that the 'Master' has only been seen by his few loyal servants."

To the great surprise of Gohan, the normally emotionless man in front of him began to laugh. The funny thing was, the laugh didn't sound humourous, it sounded cruel. His laughter stopped abruptly and he said, "Yes, we 'help' the young women. It is true that only the loyal servants have seen the Master, but that is the only truth you know. Ha, go back to your colleagues and find the real truth."

Gohan couldn't hold back the anger and hatred in his voice as he said to the man, "Are you not man enough to tell me the truth yourself? Are you not man enough to do the dirty work! No, I know the truth now, but I wanted to hear your side of the story before I jumped to conclusions. Now that I've heard what you have to say, I've made my decision. I am leaving this place and never coming back. You disgust me."

Rage burning clearly in his eyes, his former boss tried to keep himself from yelling as he said, "How dare you! That's it then, you are no longer welcomed in the UPO. Leave now before I change my mind and have my assistant kill you!"

Gohan turned around and walked to the door, but before he left completely, he turned back to face the enraged man and replied dangerously, "I'm going to find my mom, and after I do, I'm going to bring your organization down." He glared at the man for long moments, then stomped out the door to his truck.

He was no fool; he knew the UPO would be sending someone after him to hunt him down and get rid of him. He knew too much. So, as soon as he got to his apartment building, he packed his belongings and left in the middle of the night.

He spent the rest of the night looking for a new place to stay; one that was far, far away from his last. Finally, at about 5 in the morning, he found a run down, hidden apartment building that he heard was a good place for runaways to hide. He grabbed a jacket from his stuff and put the hood over his head. He had to be cautious in case someone from the organization thought to look there.

He walked to the front desk and hit the bell a few times in hope of getting someone's attention. He waited patiently until a tired, old man came out from a room nearby. He was still dressed in his pajama's and could hardly keep his eyes open. He studied Gohan with a look that plainly asked "are you crazy", but didn't say a thing.

"Hello, sir. Er, I am in need of a room. Do you have anything available?" Gohan asked in a business like manner. He waited again as the owner of the apartments flipped through a book to find an open room. He seemed to spot one because he grabbed a pen and kept the page there.

"We have room 78 free. Is that ok with you?" he continued once receiving a nod from Gohan, "I need a name and a possible number to reach you at incase of an emergency."

"That's all?" Gohan asked, then smiled when he realized how easy it would be. "My name's Gohan and you can reach me at 723-0972." Gohan handed over the money for the apartment to the owner, money which he had gotten for his birthday from Bulma.

The man wrote all this down as it was said, then closed the book tightly. "Well then, welcome, Gohan. I go by Johnson and me and my wife run this wonderful place you see here. Here are your keys and your room is on the third floor, you can't miss it. Er, I'd show you where it is, but it's a bit late, or would you say early?"

Gohan nodded and expressed his gratitude before taking the keys and searching for his apartment. When he got there, he was surprised at how spacious it was. He was exhausted, too much so to unpack his stuff now. So, he laid down in where his bedroom would be and pulled his jacket over himself. He fell asleep quickly and didn't get up for the next few hours.

For the next few weeks, he went to his job at Capsule Corp regularly and searched for a new job at night. At one point, he even called for the help of Bulma to cure Johnson's wife. She was a sweet lady that he became rather fond of so it was not hard at all for him to get Bulma to help out once he told her thus.

Finally, after listening in on many conversations, he over heard someone talking about a new organization. It was said this secret group of people set out to rescue those girls caught by the UPO and such companies. They called themselves Predator Victims Protection Association, or PVPA for short. Once he heard this, he could hardly hold back his excitement. He quickly wrote down the place the group of men said to find this organization and left with much enthusiasm.

The following night, he dressed himself up all in black with a hood over his head and sunglasses on his face before he left his room. Quickly, hoping not to be noticed, he rushed down the stairs and jumped into his truck. Not many cars were out this late at night so he had no problem getting to the general area of the building, but he had trouble finding the actual thing itself.

After a few minutes of searching, he came upon a small, run down factory that looked to have been used by a textile manufacturing business possibly. Thinking it would be best, he parked his truck a few blocks down and walked the rest of the way.

As soon as he entered the building, he felt the presence of seven people surround him. Their energy was nothing compared to his own, but they were all rather high for humans. Nervous, not wanting to start off on their bad side, he cautiously walked forward until he felt them move toward him. He stopped where he was and prepared himself to fight, crouching into a fighting position.

Without warning, a net was thrown in his direction, which he easily dodged, and was followed by a nimble young man. Before the man even grew close enough to land his flying kick though, another, much faster man came at him from behind. From the looks of it, they would both be on him at the same time. He sighed, then ducked down so the first man would pass over him, then brought his hand up at the same moment to block all the punches sent his way by the other.

At this point, the other five unknown fighters joined in the fight. He easily blocked and dodged every attack, but never once did he make an attack of his own. He was sure that he could talk it out with them as soon as they stopped. After a few more minutes of this, he began to worry that they weren't going to stop though. So, he made up his mind and in a speed faster than the human eye could see, he knocked each one of the fighters out and stacked them up on his shoulders.

Satisfied, he made his way down the long hall and disappeared into the darkness, still with the belief that this private business, the PVPA, could help him find and save his mother.

The air was thick with apprehension as he sat patiently at the desk. A large group of men surrounded him, too caught up in their meeting to notice their newest member had lost interest long ago. They were trying to plan how best to accomplish their latest mission at the time, but none of that concerned the young man. He wouldn't be allowed to go along anyway.

It was his third week on the job and still he had made no progress. When he first arrived through the doors, with the large group of attackers on his shoulders, everyone was too surprised and suspicious to even bother considering his offer to join the PVPA.

AN: Ok guys, I'm hoping this time it will work. Sorry for the thing before. Somehow, that stupid resume got loaded instead of the chapter I had planned out. I don't know why my computer is being stupid like this, but I'm hoping this time it will work. Anyway, sorry for the long wait, but my phoneline has been out for a long time and I've finally been able to get back online or else I would have had this up a long time ago. Oh yeah, someone asked me about my other story, Gohan and Videl My Way, and I've almost finished the next chapter. It's really hard to write with school being so hard and everything. I'll try to get that done and updated soon. And I also wanted to say sorry if this has a lot of mistakes. I haven't gone over it yet so if there's a lot, I'll try to get that fixed.Anyway, thanks for reading this chapter! I hoped you liked it and will want to see more. Tel me what you think and leave a review please! Thanks again!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N Well hello everyone reading this! How are you? Anyway, I'm sorry it's been taking me so long, but now I've been able to update my stories and even add a new one, so please don't be mad at me. Sorry to all you guys who've been waiting for me to update and I haven't. Seriously, when school's going, I don't have the time. But now that it's summer break, I'll hopefully be writing more. Anyway, I don't know what else to say other than please reivew after reading! I always enjoy hearing what you guys think!

Chapter 3

The air was thick with apprehension as he sat patiently at the desk. A large group of men surrounded him, too caught up in their meeting to notice their newest member had lost interest long ago. They were trying to plan how best to accomplish their latest mission at the time, but none of that concerned the young man. He wouldn't be allowed to go along anyway.

It was his third week on the job and still he had made no progress. When he first arrived through the doors, with the large group of attackers on his shoulders, everyone was too surprised and suspicious to even bother considering his offer to join the PVPA. But soon afterward, they took him up on his offer, knowing that they needed all the help they could get. Right away though, he was put on "desk job", which basically meant study the past cases and guard their hideout. The man in charge was not going to let Gohan on a real case until he proved himself to be able to handle it.

"Ok, here's what we got so far. The UPO has been growing larger and larger with more and more girls being sold. They've become increasingly creative and too smart in the business. Here's our mission; get another girl out of there. But, there are many catches. One, you cannot leave the building with the girl as is the case with most other companies. They like to keep an eye on where their ladies are at so you would have to go to the room they provide for you with the girl you choose, which will be under heavy surveillance. Two, you must pay up front with a lot of cash. They don't want any cheapskates to do their thing and not pay afterwards. And three, they only allow one girl at a time, so numeral rescues at once are not possible. Now, in order to accomplish this mission, we need a man to go in there and play the part of a costumer. Then, he must be able to sneak out of that place and get to our apartment, located in a few towns over. This will be a very hazardous rescue and the chances of success are slim, but it's of the most importance! If we can succeed, it will be far easier to rescue the other ladies in the future. Alright, so now that we've discussed all we can, who's going to be the man to go?" James explained the situation to the group.

Everyone in the group looked around at each other, none of them sure they would be able to handle the job. The women in the group stepped back since this was not an assignment for any of them, but they would be happy to appoint a man for the job if asked. Still, no one volunteered, so James was force to either assign someone himself or let the group vote. He decided that to keep the peace, he'd have to decide himself.

With a sigh of frustration, he said, "Ok people, I'll decide then." He looked around the room, trying to decide who would do the best. Finally, his eyes laid on Gohan who had only listened to the project have heartedly and was now reading an old case file. The corner of his mouth tugged at a smile; perfect. "Gohan, you'll be on the case this time."

Startled, Gohan fell back off his chair and hit his head on the floor. This caused some of the women in the room giggle at him as he climbed back to his feet, rubbing his head. He blushed slightly and grinned an embarrassed grin. Then he turned to James and said, "me? You want me, the newest member who's never gone an a mission before, handle your most important one yet? You've got to be kidding!"

Appearing very stern, he said in a grave ans serious tone, "No, I am not kidding. We need someone who can fight when needed and it's obvious that you're the most fit for this requirement. Also, you've been waiting for this chance, am I not right?" When he received a nod from Gohan, he let a smile slip onto his face. "And Gohan? Don't screw this up, got it? We're all counting on you and the completion of this mission."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, got it. Ok, just tell me what I got to do," Gohan replied while an anxious smirk crept onto his face. James nodded his head toward Gohan, then told Gohan to follow him to his office.

Stepping out of his car, Gohan starred up at the building in front of him. It wasn't anything special; just an old, dumpy bar-like structure. From outside, he could tell it had two stories, the rooms where the girls were kept obviously up the stairs. The windows, the few there were, appeared to be tinted so that you can't see inside, while one of them had been shattered somehow. The paint was yellowing and peeling off, but other then that, the place was nothing out of the ordinary.

Gaining his confidence, he stepped up to the door and put on his well rehearsed buyer face. He had been practicing it all day, waiting for this time at night when it would be the real thing. And James had reassured him that his personality he had been working at was surprisingly realistic. With all this in mind, he knocked hard on the thick, wooden door.

A peep hole appeared suddenly toward the top of the door and Gohan saw a brown eye search his face. Without a word, he seemed to approve of the young man waiting on the other side of the door. The owner of the brown eye slowly opened the door for Gohan, so he confidently strutted inside to meet this unknown man.

Standing in front of him now, Gohan saw the man fully and completely. The strange man was very well muscled, large, stocky man with brown eyes and black eyebrows, plus a beard, but with a bald head. He appeared very much like the bodyguard Gohan knew he was. After both men sized each other off, the bald man took a step closer.

"Welcome. We hold a tight business here so I must ask for you to pay up front right here. We do not give refunds for a lousy lay," this man put simply. He stretched out his hand, showing Gohan he wanted the money placed in this hand. Wit a superior look, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a wade of cash. James had told him that this would happen, so he had given Gohan more than enough money from their funds to pay for the night. Smirking, he slowly took the wade of cash and placed it in the awaiting man's hand.

"I hope this will be enough," Gohan said in a deep, cocky voice, very aware that this was more than the price that was asked for. James had said it was a good idea because it would help the men in charge trust him more then they would a regular paying customer. James reassured Gohan again that the men would believe him just a wealth man trying to flaunt his money. The plan of theirs appeared to be working because right away, the man smirked and simply said, "plenty, sir. Right this way."

Gohan followed the burly man up a short staircase and into a small room. He was told to wait there while the man walked out to get someone else. Gohan looked about the room curiously, but there just wasn't anything to see. It was a plain room, the only things in it were the coach he was sitting on and the desk across from him. Even the desk was plain; with only a lamp and papers, it nothing was out of the usual.

Finally, after what seemed an hour, but in reality only five minutes or so, an even larger man waltzed in and greeted Gohan excitedly. "Ah, welcome young man! So nice to have such a fine, wealth man such as your self visit such an undeserving establishment as ours. We most grateful. My name is Vanya. But I'm sure you tire of these formalities. Let us go choose your young women!" The new man rushed Gohan out the room and into another, much, much larger one.

Once inside, Gohan couldn't refuse the surprise from creeping onto his face. Quickly though, he changed it to an eager, experienced face as he examined his surroundings. In this new room, there were women of all types lounging about on the coaches or chairs or even some on the tables. If he were to guess, he would say there were about 20 or so scantily dressed ladies crammed into this one room. It was more than they had expected back at PVPA, but he was determined to rescue every last one of them.

Videl and Erasa sat on the coach, trying to pass the time away with cards. Vanya had told them they had a very wealth customer coming so they all had to squish into this "judgement room", as Vanya liked to call it. In this room, the buyer choose his partner for the night. This room was dreaded by all, but none feared the room more than Videl did.

It had been 2 weeks since she had been taken in by this company, forced to sell her body, but not receiving any of the money herself. Because she was new and she resisted so much, she had never had to actually go all the way. She was given menial jobs, or so they were considered, such as oral, stripping, or other similar things. But, despite this, she had been left scarred, unsure that she could ever return to old self again. Now, she hated all men and had convinced herself that nobody did anything without wanting something in return. She had grown cold and angry, only showing affection to her good friend Erasa.

Erasa, on the other hand, had been there for several months now. She never spoke of it much, but Videl knew she had been forced to do whatever the paying man pleased. All these horrors the blonde had seen, but in spite of this, she always somehow put up a fake mask, appearing to everyone else to be a bubbly, ditzy young woman. Of course, she did have some of that to her personality, but the degree she seemed to have was an act. In reality, she was very wise and compassionate, keeping her heart closed to all others except Videl, who had somehow managed to creep in. Erasa had taken in the vulnerable Videl when she first arrived, and since then, has watched over her like a protective big sister, even though they were both the same age. Without the other, both girls would be lost in the darkness threatening to engulf them.

When Videl and Erasa were pushed into this room, Erasa had immediately insisted on playing cards. She had hoped it would help distract her worried friend. So, they nervously waited to see who this high paying customer would be. After only a few minutes, Vanya arrived with the apparently young man close behind him. He was extremely handsome with his dark, wildly spiked hair and coal black eyes. He was tall and perfectly muscled with just the right amount of tan skin. In a honesty, they found it hard to believe a man so good looking having to come here to get a women in bed with him. Erasa knew that if she were on the outside world, she would willingly give herself to him.

Videl gasped when she saw the man, not expecting to find someone as attractive as this man was. In her eyes, he was the god of her dreams, a celestial being not worthy to grace their presence. But, the world had turned her cold and the affect he would have had on her earlier was lost, just like the life she once knew. She could not help herself, however, to send a few admiring glances his way every now and again, quickly changing them into glares so cold it was as if an ice maiden shot shards of ice at him.

Erasa turned to Videl with an excited expression on her face. "Oh my gosh, he's gorgeous, Vi! Oh boy, what I would do to spend the night with him! I mean, if we have to be in here, why not have one time to enjoy it! I bet he's marvelous," She whispered fervently in Videl ear. Videl looked at her in faked disgust, but it was obviously what Erasa expected because she did not pay any notice to it. No, she was too busy starring dreamily at him while trying to make herself appear more appealing.

Vanya commanded all the girls to climb to their feet and stand in a line for his customer to inspect them more easily. It appeared that a lot of the other girls who had been here longer were also trying to grab his attention like Erasa, Videl noted. Usually, Videl did not have to line up in this line along with the other new girls because they were considered not ready for such things, but for this well paying man, all were eligible.

"My dear man, here are all we have in this vacillate. Please, chose any you think fit," Vanya said as he urged the handsome man to one side of the line. Nodding his head, Gohan quickly remember to put on an anxious smirk. Slowly, he took his time inspecting each women, trying to decide in his mind who he should chose. This was more than a night with a girl, this was one lucky girl's freedom and he was the one who had to decide. So, he looked and waited to for someone to pop out at him, someone he saw hope for. Many of the ladies were trying their hardest to grab his attention, to make him pick them. Many brought their shirts down dangerously low and pushed their chests out, some winked at him and blew kissed, a few looked away or simply smiled at him, and one even grabbed his rear as he passed. He was so startled by this, he almost lost his character, but quickly recovered, hoping no one had seen his slip.

Before long, he was nearing the end of line of women and had yet to find the perfect one to take back with him. Suddenly, a black haired beauty caught his attention. She was glaring at him just as heatedly as before, but he saw behind that and saw hope in her eyes. He saw a fighters spirit who would never give up, who could never be broken. This, this was the girl he wanted to save without a doubt. So, still playing the part of an eager buyer, he stopped right in front of her and starred at her, pondering.

"My, what a pretty one," he said out loud to no one in particular. He took the back of his hand and slid it down her face, feeling the silky skin upon his own. Gohan watched as she flinched at his touch, sympathy taking root in his heart. Immediately, he wanted to take away all her pain and he didn't know why he felt such passion for this.

"Ah, a very fine pick. But, it is my duty to tell you that this young lady has not had her experience yet. It would be smart to advice you to chose another," Vanya replied, glaring angrily at Videl. She just smirked back at him; she knew he was furious at her for putting him in this situation. After all, it was her fault that she was inexperienced because of all of the refusing she did, in Vanya's opinion.

Frowning slightly, then suddenly smirking again, Gohan put on a show of pondering about the predicament. "How about this; instead of the usual hour you give, let me have two to make up for her inexperience. Do we have a deal?" Gohan said in his richly deepened voice he used for this mission. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the girl's face turn to shock and fear, then she changed it back to her cold, heartless glare. He also noted the blonde beside her gain a worried look. He still watched as the girl looked to her friend, but her friend didn't let her see her worried look. No, the blonde changed it to one of excitement and encouragement.

Grinning from ear to ear, glad to let this new comer break the stupid girl in, he agreed readily. He sent one of his men to prepare the largest room, then started blabbering on and on about something or another. Gohan wasn't listened though, well, not completely at least. He was more concerned about the panicked girl he'd picked and the worried friend of hers who was doing her best to encourage her best friend. The black haired young lady he'd picked finally decided to stare at the floor after their conversation appeared to be over. The blonde wrapped her arm around her friends shoulders in comfort with the worried look on her face again. Finally, the blonde girl looked up at him and he held her eyes with his own. He tried to tell her not to worry and he would protect her all in that one look and he thought he saw the light of realization brighten her eyes, but he couldn't be sure.

Soon, he was head off to the room Vanya said was set aside for them with the girl being forced along behind him by one of Vanya's men. When he stepped into the room, he saw that it only a had a large bed placed in the middle of the room and a bathroom off to the right. That was all there was to the room, nothing more. But, what was he to expect?

"Well now, this is our largest room. I know it's probably not what you are used to, but I hope it will do for you. So, I guess I'll just leave the two of you in here to have your fun. I'll be back to get you in an hour!" Vanya said enthusiastically, stepping outside the door and hurrying down the hallway. The man who had dragged the girl into the room through on the bed and followed Vanya out the door. Gohan heard him lock the door from the outside, just as he suspected the man would do.

Sighing, knowing now what was to come was the real hard part, he turned to face the young woman. In a hurry, he sat down beside her on the bed and she scooted as far away as she could. He pretended not to pay any attention as he started to take of his shirt. The girl's eyes widened, but then noticed that he had a black tank top underneath. On top of his black tank top was a rope wrapped around him from his left shoulder to under his right one. Also, he had on a vest with pockets in which he had many different things that were unknown to Videl. Next, he took out a head set from one of the pockets and put it on his head.

"Ok, I'm set," he said to himself, then turned to look at the gaping girl on the other side of the bed. She tried to hide it quickly behind a glare, but he saw the surprise behind it. Gohan then said to her, "Ok, we need to hurry. Oh, my name's Gohan and I'm with the PVPA, which stands for Predator Victim Protection Association. I've been sent here to rescue you. Now, we really need to get out of here fast before they catch onto us!"

Videl looked at him suspiciously, but he was tying the rope onto the bed and throwing it out the window before she knew it. Making sure the rope was secure, he beckoned her to the window. She didn't budge though, refusing to trust him. She asked simply, "How do I know that you're not just making it up and you're not just trying to get me somewhere else to hold me prisoner?"

Frustrated at the delay this was causing, he quickly came up with a smart reply. "Well, I guess you won't know. You're just going to have to trust me. Besides, wouldn't you have a better chance of escaping from me then from this place? Now please, make up your mind so we can get out of here."

Videl thought about what he said and it made sense. She was confident in her own abilities to escape from just this one man. Still hesitant, she walked over to the impatient young man and glanced down the window. Making sure to keep one eye on the guy, she nodded her head to show she was ready.

'Finally!' Gohan thought to himself, realizing that five minutes had passed already, which took five more minutes they could be further away from this place. He wrapped his arm around the girl's waist, causing her to gasp. But, before she could resist, he whispered in her ear. "Quiet, please! They've got men surrounding the building out here and I'm sure each one of them is armed! Now, I need you to hold on to me tight."

Once he was positive the rope was secure and the girl had a tight hold around his neck, he climbed out the window and began his quiet descent. Once at the bottom, he set the girl down and told her to stay put or else the guards could find her. So, with more speed then one thought was possible from any human, Gohan climbed back up the rope and untied it. He tossed the other end down to the awaiting girl, then jumped out the window after it.

Videl, in shock, watched as the man jumped out the window after throwing the rope down to her. 'Is he crazy!' she thought to herself, but could do nothing to help. She just watched as he landed gracefully on his feet in a crouched position, not even making a sound when he landed. He used his hand to beacon Videl to him and she did just that, crouching behind him and trying to see over his shoulder.

Slowly, he got up and told her to stay there once again. Then, he turned the corner and she heard a muffled cry, then a body hit the floor. Seconds later, he came back to her, carrying a body of a large guard with him. Videl couldn't help it, her chin dropped in surprise.

Seeing how startled the young woman was, Gohan explained himself. "Don't worry, he's only knocked out. Now, we just need to hide him in those bushes over there until we get away. I don't care if they find him then or not." It now made sense to Videl so she nodded her head and followed him to the bushes where he laid the man down and covered him with the leaves of the bushes.

Satisfied that the guard was hidden well enough, Gohan looked about him to make sure there were no other guards in sight. The only guard he saw had just rounded the corner, that gave them exactly one and a half minutes to make it to his care and out of there.

Before he even gave her a warning, he had Videl in arms and was running full speed for his car, which blended well in the shadows. At first, Videl kicked and struggled to get away, but then relaxed once she got the time to assess her situation. Gohan reached his car and opened the passenger's door where he put Videl down gently. He smiled at her slightly, then snapped out of it and rushed to his side of the car. Quickly, he jumped in and turned the car on. Thanks to Bulma and her new invention, with the switch of a button, he turned the car into stealth mode. Now, it was practically unhearable, unseeable, and undetectable. That is, just for a time; the affects of the new mode wore off after about five minutes.

Pulling away, he sighed in gratitude, excited to have accomplished his first mission. When they were far enough away that he was sure their sources couldn't pick up on the radio waves, he contacted PVPA headquarters. "PVPA headquarters, do you read me?" Gohan said into the headphone on his head.

"G man! I read ya loud and clear dude!" The man on the other side of the phone said. Videl watched the surprised look come across the face her so called "rescuer" when he heard the reply. She wasn't convinced even now that she was being rescued. For all she knew, it could just be another one of the many other companies come to take her away and they were just putting on an act.

"Sharpner, is that you? I didn't know you were promoted to communications room! Congrats, man!" Gohan replied, excited for his friend. He checked where he was, then made a turn on the road. He then continued saying, "Anyway, I've completed the mission and we're on our way to the set aside apartment. Does James want us to stay there until he comes to get us?" Gohan asked.

"Ah, ok, he left something for me to tell ya. I think you'll get the answer in here. Ok, so, this is what it says: 'Gohan, if you're hearing this, that means you accomplished the mission. Good work, we're proud of you.' Yeah, great job, man! Oh, right, anyway, back to the note. 'You're new instructions are to go to the room we've got for you in Chezerton. Keep the girl there safe until we are able to come pick the both of you up. I am off on some important business at this moment, so I won't be able to do anything myself. Keep up the good work and..." the rest of what Sharpner had to say was lost because suddenly, he heard gunshots outside his car.

"Sharpner, I'm being fired at! I'll get a hold of you later!" Gohan said, then took the head phones off his head and threw them at the floor. Looking at his rearview mirror, he saw a beat up SUV chasing after him with three angry men shooting at him from out of their windows. Cursing, Gohan swerved to the left then slammed on his brakes. His tires squealed in protest as he changed the car's direction and took a dirt road off to his right.

"Get down and stay down!" He shouted at Videl, which she did promptly without protest. Another SVU was chases him this time down the dirt road with three new guys shooting more bullets at them. When he looked back this time, he was able to see the smirking face of Mark, one of his coworkers at PVPA. More curse words escaped from his mouth this time and he grew angry at the betrayal, almost as angry as he was when he found out his mom was missing.

So upset was he, that Gohan hardly even felt the bullet that hit his arm, leaving a large amount off blood to rush out the wound. Simply put, he felt to hurt, angry, and betrayed to think about that small thing at the moment. Finally, he was able to put the anger aside for now and regain his wits. He watched for anything he might be able to use to escape when he finally saw a sharp turn around a decomposing factory.

Taking that turn at the speed he was going, his car nearly lost control, but in the end, he made it and kept going. He then turned his stealth mode on again, hoping it would last for at least one minute so he could escape. We could see out of the corner of his eye, the SUV with Mark in it, skid out into the nearby creek. Sighing, he was about to turn off the stealth mode when he saw the other SUV make the turn. He panicked for a moment, but then watched them stop. He realized that they couldn't see him and he smiled triumphantly.

Rounding another corner, he was now on a highway with very few other cars. Now that the heat of the moment was over, he was able to relax in his seat. That was, until he felt the warm, sticky liquid of blood stream down his arm. He looked down and saw the gash and swore. He knew they couldn't stop or they would be found and he knew they couldn't go to Chezerton because that was what Mark expected him to do.

Looking over at Videl, he saw she was still crouching down on floor, starring up at him and his bleeding arm. He attempted a smile to comfort her, but it came out as more of a grimace. "It's ok, you can come out now. Um, I hate to worry you, but we're kind of in a predicament. It appears that Mark has betrayed me and told them of our plan. Now, we must find a place to stay until I can safely get a hold of HQ again."

She just nodded her head, then simply pointed out, "you're hurt." This made Gohan smile and all he said in reply was, "I know, I'm ok. So, since we'll be having to work together it seems, it would help to know your name."

Videl looked at him, surprised he'd want to know her name. She was slowly starting to believe he actually was trying to save her from the place, but that didn't mean he would have his way with her if he ever wanted to. She did understand what he meant though, so she answered saying, "My name's Videl. And yours is still Gohan, I presume?"

Once again, the girl had caused him to smile. He saw the smirk on her face and nodded anyway, even though he knew she didn't need the reassurance. Gohan decided then that even if she could be a pain at times, he had chosen the right girl to take. He just hoped he would never have to question his decision.

He realized that he needed to get somewhere quick before he lost so much blood that he'd pass out. In the end, Gohan decided to go the opposite way of Chezerton and into the town of Silversteen. He figured that they would be save in a hotel there for the night, then he could contact HQ and be told what to do from there.

It had now been a half hour since they had left the UPO building and the two young adults were just now pulling into a hotel parking lot. Gohan was so relieved to finally stop and check out his wound that he forgot the fact that he didn't have any money with him.

Now at a complete stop, Gohan examined the bullet shot in his shoulder. He was lucky, the bullet had gone through on the other side. It was a rather deep gash, but nothing that bothered him much. Besides, he'd had much worse wounds before and still had to fight with them! Knowing that to stop the bleeding, he had to apply pressure so he searched about him for something to use. The only thing he could find was his shirt he's worn into UPO's building, which he wrapped around his arm tightly.

Looking back through the window, he saw the hole the bullet left. It surprised him to see the glass hadn't shattered like most bullets would usually do, but it simply just had that hole. Underneath his breath, he muttered, "Couldn't they just be normal bad guys? But no, they had to have a sniper! Stupid UPO. They're lucky to get off with it this time." He hadn't meant for Videl to hear this, but she did and she found it rather humorous. He was so busy muttering and cursing that he forgot about her and just grabbed his stuff and got out the of the car, then slammed the door shut. Videl found it hard to suppress her laughter now, but she did manage it.

Remembering the girl in his car finally, he scrambled to her door and opened it for her. "I am so sorry, Videl! I guess I just wasn't paying much attention," Gohan apologized sympathetically, then helped her climb out. She refused to take his hand, but he was stubborn and just gently placed his hand on her elbow. Deep down, this gesture flattered Videl, but she wasn't about to admit it, not even to herself.

She muttered a quick "thanks" and tugged her elbow out of his kind hand. He just smiled patiently at her, then started to walk off toward the hotel's front door, sure that Videl would follow him. She did as he knew she would and they stepped inside the medium sized hotel.

Spotting a comfortable looking coach off to the side, Gohan brought Videl over to it. He gestured for her to sit down, then he said, "Stay here and I'll go us a room. Be right back." All he got in reply from Videl was, "whatever" and a rolling of the eyes. So, Gohan walked over to the front desk and waited patiently for his chance to speak with the desk clerk. He didn't have to wait for long, due to the fact that it was getting late and there was no one around.

"Do you have a room reserved, sir?" The desk clerk asked Gohan in a tired, bored tone. Gohan shook his head in reply and was about to ask for one when the clerk's phone rang. He spoke shortly to the person on the other line, then hung up. He took his time to write something down, then finally, he returned his attention to the waiting Gohan.

"Actually, sir, can I use your phone real quick?" Gohan asked the clerk, who handed him the phone without much interest. Gohan gave his thanks, then dialed a very familiar number. He had to wait for a couple of rings before someone finally picked up on the other end.

"Hello? Bulma speaking," the person, now known as Bulma, said on the other side of the phone. She sounded tired, which made sense because it was almost 1:00 in the morning.

"Bulma! I'm so sorry to wake you up so late, but I kinda need some help. You see, I can't tell ya why just yet, but I don't have any money with me at this moment and I need to borrow some. Don't get the wrong idea, I'm fine! I just need some money to buy a room at this hotel for the night," Gohan explained hurriedly in a soft voice, truly sorry to be asking Bulma for this after all she'd already given him.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you need! Let me talk to the man in charge and see what I can do," Bulma replied, always willing and ready to help her nephew.

"Thank you so much, Bulma! You don't even know how much this means to me! I promise I'll explain everything when I come to visit soon. Here, I'll give the phone to the man at the desk now. And thanks again, you're the best!" Gohan explained, so tired and so filled with gratitude that it was hard for him to keep his emotions in check. Bulma had done so much for him and still continued to do so, even though Gohan hadn't come by to visit her in what must have been a month.

So, Gohan handed over the phone and told the man Bulma Briefs wanted to talk to him. He looked doubtful and was about to refuse until he heard Bulma's voice on the other line. Startled, he put the phone to his mouth and talked back. After a few minutes and the ever changing emotions of the desk clerk, the phone was put back down. The man looked at him in a dazzled state, then simply picked up some keys and handed them to Gohan.

Grinning triumphantly, Gohan grabbed the keys and hurried back over to the impatient Videl. He held up the keys to her and told her to follow him to their room for the night. Once again, she rolled her eyes at him, this time because of the victory and excitement he had failed to hide in his eyes. A long time ago, she would have found the excitement rather cute and charming, something to giggle at, but after all she'd seen and done because of UPO, it only frightened her. She would bealone with this man in a hotel room, he could get away with just about anything. The excitement she saw only scared her.

Shaking her head, Videl followed Gohan into the elevator. She was not about to let her fears stop her from having a good nights sleep for once. Besides, if he tried to pull anything, she could stop him. Unlike at UPO, there was only one of him and, as far as she knew, he didn't have freakish strength and weird powers like the leaders did. He appeared to just be a regular man, who worked about an extreme amount. But like she said, she wasn't worried. She had easily fought and beaten men even larger than Gohan and she was confident in that ability.

Videl was so wrapped up in her thoughts, that she didn't even notice when the elevator came to a stop and Gohan walked out. The doors were just about to close when he called her name and she snapped out of it. Hastily, she rushed out before the doors shut completely on her and once again, followed Gohan to their room.

She watched as he looked down at the keys, then at each and every room number they passed until finally, after three right turns, a left, and a little bit of backtracking, they arrived at their room. It just so happened to be the very last one with a nice view of the park behind the hotel on the left side, then the road passing by on the right. They were even lucky enough to have candy, soda, snack, and ice machines just down the hallway from them.

Glad to have finally found their room, Gohan slide one of the keys through the lock, waited for the beep and flashing red light, then opened the door to find a very large hotel room. On first entering, there was the kitchen to the right, complete with a fridge, microwave oven, sink, everything a normal kitchen at home would have. On the left was the closet and bathroom with, once again, everything a usual bathroom would have. Straight across from the kitchen was the living room, which contained two coaches, a tv with a DVD player and a VCR, and a table with chairs to eat meals at. Finally, to the right, was a door leading to the bedroom. Inside the bedroom was a large, queen sized bed, another tv, another closet, bedside tables with lamps, and a dresser for long staying customers to put their clothes in. Altogether, the hotel room was more than what they needed.

"Wow, look at this place! This is great!" Gohan said as he flipped the light switch and rushed to sit down on the coach. 'I wonder what Bulma said to the guy to get us this nice of a room,' Gohan thought to himself, pondering all the possibilities. He watched as Videl hesitatingly stepped in with her arms folded over her chest, looking about the room, studying it.

Climbing back to his feet, grimacing slightly at the pain it caused his arm, he searched the bedroom. He was trying to find some type of medical kit for his arm, but he was having no luck. So, he walked back out of the room and stopped in front of Videl. "So Videl, if you were a med kit, where would you be?"

She snorted at him, then remembered his arm and how bad it must be bleeding. "Crap! Why didn't you do something earlier, you idiot! You can bleed to death! It's a wonder you're even still conscious," Videl said to Gohan as she began to search with him, the last part she mostly muttered to herself. When they couldn't find it after looking everywhere, Videl finally came up with an idea.

"I know, how about you call the front desk and ask for one," she stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She smirked at him when he looked her way, now with a look of realization on his face.

"Videl, you're a genius! Why didn't I think of that before!" Gohan said. He then continued, muttering to himself as he walked out the door, "I mean, sure I've got the highest IQ they say they've ever seen, but I can't even come up with calling the front desk. No, I've got to go around all stupid and..."

Videl actually smiled at his frustrated muttering's, thinking it was really quite a funny sight. She decided it'd be best if she went after him and reminded him that he only needed to call them, not go all the way down the stairs to them.

"Hey genius, the phone's this way," Videl said, a hint of laughter in her voice. Gohan just simply looked up at her, not really seeing her. He just kind of nodded his head and walked right passed her to the coach in which the phone was right by. The way he looked past her like that had actually startled her. His face was pale and his eyes glazed. And the way he swayed back and forth when he walked really worried her. That was when she saw him collapse on the coach, holding his arm.

Rushing to him, she saw that he had bled through the shirt he had wrapped around the wound and it was starting to run down his arm. "Geez, you'd think I'd stop bleeding by now. I guess I must have hit something important," Gohan said to himself in a low voice, as if he was heonly one meant to hear it. But, Videl had heard him and it got her even more worried. She knelt down beside him and looked at him, asking with her eyes what to do. She then remembered the med kit and calling the front desk.

As fast as she could manage, she grabbed the phone and dialed the simple number for the front desk. After a couple of rings and long waiting on Videl's part, the man picked up and yawned on the other end. "Room surface. What may I possibly do for you at this God forsaken hour?" the man said, obviously irritated.

"Look, I need a med kit now and quick!" Videl said, very upset at the man and worried for Gohan. It would have just been easier to let him fend for himself and escape while she could, but Videl was able to think rationally and realize that she wouldn't get too far. And, reluctant to admit it to herself, she kind of liked the guy. 'Well, not like, just a general respect. I dislike all men,' Videl would often find herself thinking.

Realizing what room was calling him, the clerk snapped wide awake. After the conversation he had with Bulma, he was ready to do anything for this couple. 'My sweet boy, his mother, grandbabies, money for the hotel,' were just half the things floating through his head. "Ah, ah, yes ma' am, right away!" he said, hung up, and quickly grabbed the only kit behind the desk to bring up to the room.

Satisfied, Videl could do nothing but wait and watch Gohan's staggered breathing. He was so pale that if moon light were to hit his face, she wouldn't be able to tell a difference. He was grasping his arm so tight that he grimaced in pain. 'Is he suppose to grip it so gosh darn hard?' Videl wondered to herself.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity of watching Gohan in pain, there was a knock on the door. Jumping up, Videl rushed to it, opened it, grabbed the box from the startled man, then slammed the door in his face. She then ran back to Gohan and gave him the kit. He managed a smile, which soon turned to grimace, and thanked her. Sitting up carefully, he removed the bloody shirt from his wound and put it on the table. He then pulled out a cloth from the kit and wipped away the blood the best he could.

Now that the wound was visible, he could see it was a lot deeper than he expected. He took the cleaning medicine from the medical supplies and painfully took the time to clean it out. The whole time, he was able to keep a stern, emotionless face throughout the pain. Finally, he was able to see the mark fully and was able to make a hypothesis.

"It appears it punctured an artery. Hm, my best chance is to sew it back up. Basically, I'll need, let's say, three stitches, that should do the job," Gohan said to himself, but Videl obviously heard him. She was impressed at his knowledge of medical procedures.

"So, are you some kind of doctor or something?" Videl asked Gohan, hoping that it wouldn't distract him too much. She watched him sterilize the needle and string, but have problems stringing it. Videl took the needle and string away from Gohan and did it for him.

He smiled gratefully at her, then said, "Thanks, that's always the hardest part. To answer your question, I'm not exactly a doctor, no license and all, but I do have the degrees needed. Thanks to my mom and then my aunt, I have a degree and masters in every area there is basically. To be honest with you, I think my aunt's a little disappointed that I didn't go out and do something wonderful, like be a doctor. She was ready to leave her business in my hands, after I was her assistant for so long, but I wasn't ready for that. Besides, I wanted her to give it to her real son, not me. Opps, sorry to go on and on like that. I'm sure this must bore you."

Videl shook her head, even more impressed to learn of his obvious intelligence. She had so many things to ask him, but he looked to be in too much pain to answer them at the moment. Of course, he did a good job hiding it from his face, but his eyes said it all for him. So, she rested on her knees and waited, almost needing to turn away when she saw him first put the needle in.

Slowly, he was able to sew the artery up and prevent the great amount of blood from still pouring out. Now, he took the cloth wrap from out of the med kit and tightly wind it around the wound. Trying to hold it in place and get the medical tape proved to be much harder than he thought. Knowing that Gohan wouldn't be able to accomplish much this way, Videl got the tape for him and started to tape the medical wrap firmly in place.

Once Gohan declared that there was enough tape, Videl put all the supplies back in the kit and sat down on the coach next to him. After the stressful day today, she was exhausted, but when she looked over at the still pale face of Gohan, she realized he was even more exhausted then her.

"Hey, you know what, Videl? How about I just go grab a pillow and sleep out here on this coach. I'm so tired, I can hardly keep my head up!" Gohan said, somehow seeming to read her mind. There wasn't much else she could do but nod her head. Then she remembered that it meant she would get that whole bed to herself and she was ready at that moment to go to sleep. Getting up, she followed Gohan to the room, then waited for him to get his stuff and get out of the room, which he did quickly.

Videl made sure to watch as Gohan plopped down on the coach and instantly fell asleep. Satisfied, she went straight to her bedroom and collapsed onto the bed, relieved to finally get some sleep. Minutes passed by and she found herself in dreamland, dreaming of her highschool life and the joys it brought. Suddenly, the dreams changed to nightmares as she was forced to relive her most feared memories. The day of her kidnapping, her first day in UPO, the times she was forced to watch the other girls do their thing to learn herself, the times she was force to commit immoral acts. Everything rushed through head, seeming to taunt her, telling her she was dirty and worthless.

Soon, she saw him, that evil man she hated so much, and screamed without realizing she had done so out loud. She was wrestling the pillows, kicking and yelling at them to let her go. That's when Gohan came in with nothing but his boxers and black tank top on. He tried to calm her, but as soon as Videl felt his touch, she lashed out at him with all her anger. Gohan was fine taking all the hits until she nearly hit his bandaged wound, then he had to yell her name. Finally, her eyes snapped wide opened and she starred at him.

"Get out of here, you sick pervert!" She screamed at him over and over again until the startled Gohan was out the door and resting against the closed door. He could hear her gentle sobs she tried to hold in so hard but to no avail. He wanted so badly to help her, but she refused to let him in. He couldn't imagine the type of pain she was going through, but he understood pain, even if it wasn't the same type Videl's was.

After a long time of waiting, her sobs turned to gentle whimpers, then finally it was silent. It appeared she had fallen asleep well over an hour later and Gohan was finally able to sleep again, too. Another hour went by before Gohan was awoken by her screams again. This time, they were hoarse and they seemed distant, but it still held the same fear and sorrow from the last time.

Learning his lesson from her last reaction, Gohan crept quietly into her room. She was thrashing about again, but less violent, due to the fact that she had worn herself out already. Gohan sat down next to her on the bed and put his hand on her cheek, whispering comforting words in her ear. This caused Videl to settle down, but it didn't help the hurt expression from leaving her face. He began to stroke her hair softly, then quietly, barely more than a whisper, he began to sing her a song.

"She said life's a lot to think about sometimes

When you're living in between the lines

And all the stars are sparkling, shine everyday

He said life's so hard to move in sometimes

When it feels like I'm in the line

And no one even cares to ask me why I feel this way

And I know you feel helpless now, and I know you feel, hold on

That's the same road, the same road that I'm on, yeah

He said life's a lot to think about sometimes

When you keep it on between the lines

And everything I want and I want to find one of these days

But what you thought was real in life

Oh, it somehow steer you wrong

And now you just keep trying and trying to find out where you belong

And I know you feel helpless now, and I know you feel, hold on

That's the same road, the same road that I'm on

What you thought was real in life, somehow steer you wrong

And now you just keep trying and trying to find where you belong

I know you feel helpless now, I know you feel, hold on

That's the same, the same road that I'm on."

By the end of the song, Videl was fast asleep, this time in a more peaceful slumber. Some time during his song, she had repositioned herself so that she was leaning her head on his shoulder. After a while, Gohan slumped down on the pillows due to his tiredness.

Hesitantly, Gohan shifted to climb off the bed, wanting to return to his bed on the coach, but Videl began to whimper again. 'She must not have had many people there for her in her life,' Gohan thought to himself. Videl was still a complete mystery to him, but he was enjoying every minute trying to find out more about her.

Finally, he was too tired to keep his eyes open, and within minutes, he was fast asleep with Videlsnuggled against him. Little did he know that Videl would be the first to wake and ofall the trouble the new situation would bring.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hey, long time no see guys! Merry Christmas! For all my faithful fans for this story, I want to thank you so much for not giving up on me. it may take me a while to get my updates out, but I do eventually. So, I want to thank the people who reviewed my last chapter, which are-

Sheik's twin, gaul1, Shades of Phoenix, DemonVidel, MadnessLover, Luna's Meow, Gohan-Kun Shin, demi-legend, fireeyes, Shadow Dreamer 27, and to all you guys who reviewed for my other chapters, thank you, too!

Ok, this chapter you will see a lot of ooc-ness, but for me, it makes the story more realistic. Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this chapter cause I put a lot of effort into it. Oh yeah! And I think that a lot of the questions or comments you guys have had will be better answered with this chapter, that's why I didn't say anything.

So, as the saying goes, R&R please!

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Chapter 4

The bright streaks of sun valiantly pushed their way through every small slit in the curtains of the apartment building, landing softly on top of a beautiful, tear stained face and whispered for her to wake up. The young women shifted slightly, hoping to stay asleep and cling to the last of her peaceful slumber. But, the rays of sun were persistent and refused to let her sleep any longer.

Slowly, a very tired Videl attempted to lift her heavy eyelids and focus her eyes on the ceiling. Her attempts were in vein though; her eyelids resisted the urge to raise. So, Videl simply let them remain closed and she climbed out of the bed, which was hard because the blankets did not want to let her go, and walked to the window. Once there, a large yawn escaped from her, causing her eyes to water. Well, like most people do, she reached one hand up to wipe away that water, but her hand did not rub tired eyes like she thought it would. No, it rubbed swollen, puffy eyes, the kind of eyes you get after crying for a long period of time. This caused her eyes to snap open completely.

Looking around in confusion, she slowly remembered the night before: terrible nightmares, kicking and screaming, waking up and yelling for someone to get out, Gohan in her room, another nightmare...Gohan in her room! Quickly, she snapped her head in the direction of the bed and found him asleep on the edge of the large mattress, dressed in nothing but his boxers and flimsy black tank top.

Before she even had time to think, she grew as angry and scared as she had been when she first arrived at UPO. Throwing all reasonable thoughts out the window, she screamed as loud as she could. "Gohan! You sick perverted man! I trusted you! I thought you were different! Get out of my room! Go away!" Tears would be streaming down her cheeks from the great amount of anger she felt, but it seemed she'd already used them all up during the night.

Startled, Gohan woke up with a start and fell clear off the bed, just happening to land on his bad arm. He gave a shout of pain, but quickly cut it off and held the arm tight. He looked up just in time to see a screaming Videl throw the phone at him. He ducked in time and watched as it hit the wall and crumbled to pieces. Turning around, he was just barely missed by a phone book.

"Videl! Let me explain! Please!" Gohan shouted to her, but she was in no mood to listen. His words even seemed to add fuel to the fire because now she was throwing things more rapidly. Pencils and pens flew passed him and stuck into the wall. They were followed by a lamp, which shattered even more then the phone did. And, scariest of all, chairs were being thrown at him. 'How the heck can she throw chairs like that?' Gohan practically screamed in his mind.

As fast as he could, which as we know to be extremely fast, he dashed out the door and slammed it behind him. He heard Videl still venting for a while, when she fell to the floor on her knees with her head in her hands. She was crying without the tears, making Gohan feel even more horrible then he already did. But, he couldn't concentrate on her long, though. When he fell to the floor, he reopened his wound, causing it to bleed almost as much as when he first got it.

Sighing, he sat down on the coach again and tried to examine his wound without taking off the wrap. He was able to see the stitches were still in place, but the wound itself had been split back open. It hurt an unimaginable amount, but Gohan was determined to tough it through. He was not about to go to some doctor to tell him what he already knew.

Videl, on the other hand, was also in pain, but it was all emotional rather than Gohan's physical hurt. After she screamed all her voice would let her, she dropped to the floor and cried dryly. She was too emotional to think anything through, but something in the back of her mind was telling her she made a mistake and she needed to calm down to think about it.

So, when she was too exhausted to cry anymore, she laid down on the floor and starred at the ceiling. She let her mind slowly go through all her thoughts and finally came to the conclusion that she probably had made a mistake. When she thought about it, she could remember him trying to calm her down with sweet words whispered in her ear. He had not even touched her then. Next, she remembered singing, which obviously had to come from him. It had calmed her enough that she nearly fell asleep. It had been her who laid her head on his shoulder before she slipped into a more peaceful sleep. Her untrusting, hurt side told her he could have taken advantage of her then, but she knew he had not. She was still dressed fully and she had no feelings of being violated. Also, he had lost too much blood to be able to do anything other than sleep.

Finally, she realized she could have killed him in her rage when he had done nothing at all. Knowing this made her feel horrible and she felt such self loathing at this moment that she wanted to die right there. 'What have I done? After that, he won't ever forgive me and I don't blame him,' she thought with hatred toward herself. Then, another side of her that always wanted to protect her pride thought, 'it's not your fault, anyone could have made the same mistake. Besides, you don't need him! All you need is to escape now while he's still confused.'

Curled into a ball, she hugged her knees to her chest and debated on what to do. It took her a while, but she came up with an answer, one that would not make her face the pain. Climbing to her feet like a dead zombie, she slowly walked to the door and opened it. She saw Gohan sitting ridged on the coach, obviously trying to ignore the pain of the overly bleeding wound.

Without emotion, she walked passed him and headed to the door. Before she got very far, she was stopped in her tracks by a deep voice. "Where do you think you're going?" Gohan asked, keeping all emotion out of it. He did not turn once, but he knew she was heading out the door. He knew she hesitated now and her pride would not let her leave just yet.

"I'm leaving and you better not try and stop me," Videl said coldly, her arms crossed over her chest in a challenge. Gohan did not turn around and face her like she thought he would. No, he just sat there in the same uncomfortable position he had been in the whole time.

"I won't, if that is truly what you want to do. Like I told you, my job is only to rescue you. But, I will NOT let you walk out of here before I get a chance to explain myself," Gohan replied sternly, still with the same disconnected voice.

"Whatever," was Videl's common reply. Gohan expected as much, so he was able to calmly gesture for her to sit down on the coach beside him. Videl did this, but she stayed as far away from him as she could, nearly sitting on the armrest.

Looking at her, he tried to get her to meet his gaze. She knew that's what he wanted, but she would not let him have the satisfaction of it. Sighing, he gave up and just said, "You know I didn't touch you in any way at all last night. I know you know that. I know now it must have been a mistake to go in and try to comfort you. I know now that it must have been a mistake to care for you. But I know, without a doubt, that I always will care for you and always will comfort you, whether it's a mistake or not. So you can put away the tough act cause it's not working for me. Please, Videl, I want you to stay, but I will not make you."

Videl's eyes watered with tears she thought she no longer had. She looked up at him and looked him in the eye, searching for any sign of a lie, but she found only a determined truth and warmth, causing the tears to flow unchecked down her face. She threw herself at his chest and hugged him tight, which he returned just as tightly. His words touched her heart when she thought it was impossible to get through the protective wall she had put up solong ago. Right now, she just wanted to cry into his chest and hold him tight, feel his hand gently glide across her hair, and never let go of this moment.

Unexpectedly, there was a knock at the door and Gohan's head snapped toward it. 'Who the heck could that be?' he thought to himself. He looked down at Videl apologetically, but she just gave him a watery smile and let go of him. He got up slowly, careful not to hurt his shoulder anymore, and grabbed sunglasses out of his pocket along with a beanie. Placing the said items where they belong on his head, Gohan opened the door only slightly.

"Hello, may I help you?" Gohan asked the strange man standing outside the room. The mysterious man was probably only a few years older than himself, but years of worry had altered his features into those of a much older man. He had dark brown hair and was relatively tall with light brown eyes.

"Have you seen this girl?" the man asked, with a surprisingly deep voice, while holding up a picture of Videl. Gohan's eyes grew large when he saw a picture of Videl, a year younger, standing in front of her high school with her usual outfit on. Gohan was very grateful at that moment that he put his sunglasses on before opening the door or else the man would have seen his startled face.

"You know what? I think I might actually have seen her. She's that one girl on t.v., right? What's her name. Oh yeah! Hercule's girl, right?" Gohan asked, trying to play it up as much as he could. If he acted stupid, maybe the guy would just go away.

Rolling his eyes, the man made a visible effort to stay calm. "Yes, that's her. Now have you seen her anywhere else besides the television?"

Gohan rubbed his chin to appear like he was thinking about it hard. Then, he shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "Nope, can't say I have. So, why is it you're looking for her? Did her dad send you?"

Impatient, the man stuffed the picture back in his pocket and said in an angry tone, "no, her dad didn't send me. Actually, my master sent me to find her, since her dim witted father promised him Videl's hand in marriage. He was rather upset when he found out she had no money to offer him, but he is willing to look over that and take her in."

Surprised and angry, Gohan looked back out of the corner of his eyes to see Videl sit sitting on the coach, apparently not hearing this. Gohan focused his attention back on the man now and replied, "Is that so? Who is this master of yours that you keep speaking of?"

"Why, he's none other than Derek Tanning, son of Stewart Tanning, second richest man in Satan city now," the man said, proud of the position his master had. "Now look," he continued, "if you do see her, you will make sure to inform me. This is my card." Gohan was handed a small slip of paper with a name and number on it. Quickly, the man turned around and went to the next hallway to continue the questioning's.

Frustrated, Gohan slammed the door shut. 'My first mission and everything's going wrong! Not only do I have UPO after us, but now I've got some crazed idiot fiancé of hers to deal with, too!' Gohan thought to myself, not even noticing the questioning look on Videl's face when he plopped down on the coach.

"Who was that? And what did he want?" Videl asked, attempting to act normal once again. Gohan shook his head to get the troublesome thoughts out of it.

"Here, see if this rings any bells," Gohan said, then flicked the piece of paper from his pocket at her. She picked it up and glanced at it, her face perplexed. She didn't seem to recognize it at all. "No?" Gohan continued, "The guy back there, well, haven't a clue what his name is, but he serves a man named Derek Tanning. He's looking for a certain Ms. Satan."

Videl looked shocked at this, starring wide eyed at Gohan. She wasn't sure if he was angry by looking at him, since he still had on the sunglasses, but the way he had said her name like that startled her. Why would he be angry?

"Why didn't you tell me you're Hercules daughter! I know Ishould have recognized you, but for some reason, I just couldn't! It was like all memories of you disappeared! For some reason, I feel like I've met you before, but I just can't place it," Gohan said earnestly, trying so hard to bring the memory to his mind. But, as it usually goes, the harder he tried to remember, the more he lost it.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't think it was that big of a deal! And I haven't even known you for more than a few hours! It's not like I'm proud to be his daughter either. He's a stupid, idiotic, fame seeking fake who can't do anything on his own!" Videl replied, upset.

"I'm sorry, Videl. I didn't mean for it to come out like that. It's just, why do I get the feeling we met before this?" Gohan said more gently this time. He was honestly perplexed and Videl found it hard to not believe him.

"Now that you mention it, it does seem like I've met you before..." Videl trailed off, searching her memories for any sign of the man in front her. Peering at Gohan, she noticed he still wore the sunglasses and beanie hat. She was suddenly reminded of a kind man at room 78 who had helped her through rough times. Remembering this, she realized it had to be Gohan. "Gohan, it's you! You're the guy from room 78! You're him! I can't believe it! You're really him. For so long, I've wanted to say thank you for everything you did for me!" Videl exclaimed as she threw herself at Gohan once again in a tight hug. This time though, she was smiling widely instead of crying, a very welcomed change.

Although Gohan hugged her back, he hadn't a clue what she was talking about. He remembered living in room 78, he remembered Roberts and his wife, he remembered his room. But, what he didn't remember, was Videl. He strained against unseen bonds to bring the memory back to the surface. He caught a quick glimpse of a shivering body, of hot chocolate for two, of placing money at a doorstep. He pictured a face in his head then. It was blurred so much so that he could not recognize it. Slowly though, it began to become more and more clear. Then, just as the face was becoming clear enough to see, it vanished and no matter how hard he tried, he could not bring it back.

Something was wrong with him, he knew it. Usually, his mind was like acomputer, able to remember even the littlest things. But now, his memories of people, of places, of anything, were blurred and distorted. He was no longer able to recall his mother's voice, which scared him the most. Why was this happening to him? What was going on?

Just then, he heard a faint voice coming from the table. Both Gohan and Videl looked at Gohan's headphone set, guessing that was the source of the voice. Letting go of Videl, he walked to the table and put the headphones on and spoke into the mouth piece. "Hello? Head quarters?"

A muffled, small voice spoke into the other end, but Gohan was unable to make out what it was saying. "Repeat the message. I was unable to comprehend it," Gohan said, adjusting the reception on the ear piece. Finally, he fixed the frequency so that he was able to hear the person speaking from HQ.

"Gohan, man, I've got something important to tell you. I can't say it here, so I'm coming to you. Where should we meet, dude?" The person, now known as Sharpner, whispered. He seemed nervous about something, which got Gohan worried. If it was as big as a deal as to jeopardize the mission, then it had to be bad.

"Meet me at you know where. I'll be there in, let's say, 20 minutes," Gohan said hurriedly in the same low voice Sharpner was using. Without a reply, Sharpner hung up and left a very confused Gohan to think the new problem through.

Videl stood patiently to the side, waiting for Gohan to process the news in his head. She still had questions to ask him, but she knew that now was not the time. But, she didn't have to wait long because Gohan turned to her and said, "We've got to go now. Get whatever you need here and I'll explain everything in the car."

Nodding her head, Videl was about to go into the bedroom, when she remembered she hadn't brought anything. Instead, she put her shoes on and waited for Gohan to finish gathering his things. Her stomach growled in hunger, telling her she needed to grab something now or she might not get anything later. So, she went into the kitchen and grabbed enough of the provided food for herself and Gohan. After merely a few minutes, the pair were out the door and rushing to the car.

Gohan took off at full speed down the road, cutting in and out of cars as he went. He hoped Sharpner was able to get there before him because of where their meeting place was; they were risking exposure just by going there. The basement of a small, unpopular thrift store on the corner of a run down street, with Sharpner's kind, but ignorant uncle in charge of the establishment. He and Sharpner often went here to plan missions, hide objects, or simply talk somewhere outside of the office.

Holding on for dear life, Videl gripped the handle above her seat in an effort to avoid flying out of her chair, despite the fact that she was buckled in. So much for explaining everything in the car. But, to the great relief of Videl, they seemed to have arrived because the violent jerking had stopped. Peering out the window, she saw a very old, beaten neighborhood with what seemed to have only one store nearby; a small, ugly looking thrift shop. Why would they be here? No matter, as long as they were stopped, Videl was fine with just about anything.

Quickly, Gohan threw on his black hooded sweat shirt with the hood covering his head, the black sunglasses still on from before. Grabbing a few things from the back, supplies and the med kit was what Videl guessed they were, Gohan climbed out the car and rushed to help Videl out as well. Then, without any hesitation, Gohan waltzed down the street as smoothly as possible while Videl followed close behind.

As soon as Gohan pushed open the back door, Sharpner's uncle hastily escorted the two down the stairs, which was unusual because he usually only stopped by to give a quick greeting then leave to run his shop. 'This must be really important if he's escorting us. And he hasn't even asked about Videl yet,' Gohan thought to himself, a little uneasy. As they climbed down the old, creaking staircase, Gohan made sure to stay extra close to Videl. 'Just in case' is what he told himself, unwilling to except an other reason then for her own safety.

The lights flickered on and off, adding to the discomfort of the travelers creeping down to the bottom floor. When they reached the door, Sharpner's uncle knocked on the wooden door seven times in a unique rhythm, obviously a code only he and his nephew understood. Not even before the man had pulled back his hand from the last knock, Sharpner had flung the door open.

Dressed in black from top to bottom, Sharpner appeared himself in that sense. But with a haggard, tired face and dark circles under his eyes, he was very out of the ordinary. Before Gohan even had the chance to question him on this, he was pulled inside, along with Videl, and the door shut quickly behind them. Sharpner's uncle seemed not to mind that he had been kept out of the room because they could hear his nimble steps climb back from the way he came.

Gohan noticed Videl shiver from the sudden drop of temperature, so he removed his pull over sweatshirt and handed it to her. Hesitantly at first, but gratefully, Videl excepted the kind offer without a retort. This was an improvement as far as Gohan was concerned.

"Were you followed here?" Sharpner asked suddenly. Surprised slightly, since his friend never asked him that due to Gohan's great ability of stealth, Gohan shook his head in reply. "Good," Sharpner said, then pulled out a small stack of papers from his jacket and handed them to Gohan.

Starring down at the small print, Gohan asked bewilderedly, "What is this?" Pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back and keeping his eyes on the floor, Sharpner began his explanation.

"Exactly what I asked myself when I first stumbled onto it while searching for a less important document. At first, I discarded it as nothing, but something caught my eye. There at the top, read the heading: 'Cerebrum Alteration for use of Disobedient Subordinates by way of Nano Robotic Technology'. I knew that this had to be classified information, but from the tittle, I needed to know it's contents. Gohan, it's the PVPA! They've been using recently developed, very illegal, mind altering technology! And on all of us!" Sharpner exclaimed, now nearly yelling from the extreme amount of importance this held.

Stunned to the point of fainting, Gohan reeled backwards at this recently found knowledge. Hoping he had misinterpreted it wrong, Gohan said, "What, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying they've been changing our memories and ways of thinking, practically who we are, just in order to control us," Sharpner said simply, putting it into easier to understand words. He would like to see his old high school teachers' reactions to how far he had come now. In that point of his life, getting an education did not concern him. But after his sister was taken by a company like the UPO, he changed his ways to an extreme. Now, he was one of the smartest computer technicians in the whole, very educated, PVPA system. That meant that if there was a problem concerning the computers, he could fix it.

Now with his thoughts confirmed, Gohan had to sit down and think about all this new information. The PVPA were using mind altering technology to control them? But they were suppose to be the good guys! The UPO were who he was suppose to be concerned about, right? And nano technology? That means there were little robotic, what, creatures? Inside his body! This was all so very much to take in at once.

Continuing his pacing, Sharpner continued, "And that's not all! As I'm sure you've already found out, Mark crossed over to the UPO and as you remember, he was very high up in the PVPA social system. When he switched sides, he took along information of this technology to the representatives at the contact station in Chezerton, the same place you were just at last night! Since this was all recent to the men there, they have only just begun to act on it. They're planning on injecting exact replicas of the nano robots found in Mark's blood stream, into all the girls in the building! Worse yet, their knowledge of constructing the replicas is limited so much so, that it is certain the people who are injected, will be killed in a most painful way."

Frozen in horror, Gohan starred aghast at Sharpner, disgusted that such a thing like this could happen in the world. He seemed unable to form thoughts, let alone words. Videl, on the other hand, seemed to have no trouble with this at all.

"E-erasa..." Videl whispered in shock. Finally, she found her voice renewed and with the most heart felt, agonized cry, she yelled, "ERASA! NO!" She dropped to the floor in anguish, hugging her arms around her body. Tears found their way down her tired face, spilling onto the floor. Her tormented sobs shook her body and echoed throughout the barren room.

Concern outweighing his dread, Gohan dropped to his knees on the floor next to Videl. He wrapped his arms around her unresponsive form, holding her like he once had held his agonizing brother. Whispering in a small, gentle voice, Gohan said, "Don't worry, Videl, we'll save her. I'll do whatever it takes to get her safely back to you. I swear to you on the name of my mother, I will."

Choking, Videl was able to sputter out between her sobs, "Sh-she's m-my only friend. The only o-one to l-love m-me." All this was said in a voice no louder than the smallest whisper, leaving a profound affect on the young man who had heard this.

Determined like never before, Gohan stood up and turned to the starring blonde man behind him. "Sharpner, we're going to save those girls in Chezerton, that is our mission. Do you accept?" Baffled, Sharpner could only nod his head and hope it was enough. Even if his friend was insane, he had gained his trust long ago and nothing he could do would take that away now.

Clenching his fist, Gohan gazed at the ceiling intensely. "Mother. I, I have not forgotten the promise I made to you, but, for right now, I need to put it on hold. Please understand," he pleaded so softly it could not be heard by anyone else. After his mother's disappearance, everything went down hill. Sure, he had never had a fairytale life, but he always knew he would have a happy ending as long as he had his loved ones. But now... 'ha, happy ending my butt,' he thought to himself.

* * *

Tapping his head in concentration, Gohan struggled through the excessively complex formula scribbled carelessly over the top of his paper. Trying to answer such a difficult equation while being flung from one side of the seat to the other though, was almost too much for the stressed young man. 

Videl sat beside him, doing her best to stay calm in order to keep her wits about her. As soon as her two comrades had finished constructing their plan, all three adults rushed to Gohan's car, the one in which Sharpner was driving at this very moment. Videl made her own conclusion about the men of PVPA; they were all insane drivers!

Making a sharp turn onto a street, Videl flew onto Gohan, hitting her head into his chest, which seemed to go unnoticed by Gohan. Rubbing her head, Videl sat up and thought, 'Geez, what is he made of! Concrete!' Looking back over his shoulder for a split second, Sharpner asked, "G man, have you figured it out yet?"

Gohan growled in frustration, nearly breaking his pencil when he clenched his fist. "No! There's just something off about it all! I mean, there has got to be something I'm missing! This is so frustrating!" This being said, Gohan ran a hand through his spiky hair as a sign of his great agitation.

"Don't worry, if you can't get this, no one can," Sharpner said confidently. Gohan snorted and seemed to mutter a reply, but if it was understandable in anyway, neither Videl nor Sharpner could tell. Except for the occasional murmurs and curses Gohan said beneath his breath, the car went back to it's same loud silence from before. Indeed, with all the emotions and thoughts streaming through the air, silence had become louder than if someone had spoken.

* * *

Nudging Gohan in the side, Videl said, "We're here." At this remark, Gohan's head snapped up and he spotted the familiar, beat up building. He then turned his attention to Videl to see her reaction, but the only sign of emotion was her clenched jaw and fisted hands. For a small second, Gohan was tempted to reach out his hand and place it over her fists in comfort, but thought otherwise. 

"Ok, I guess it's now or never. Let's put our plan into action," Gohan stated, taking the unofficial role as leader of the small team.

"Alright, alright! Who's ready for some butt kickin'?" Sharpner said with an excited smirk plastered on his face. He jumped out of the truck enthusiastically, followed by a much gloomier Gohan and Videl. They had driven past the building and parked a block around the corner so that Gohan, Videl, and Gohan's car wouldn't be recognized.

As Gohan remembered something, he reached into the back seat and pulled out a bag. In it was the supplies they would need. He unzipped it and pulled out a box of capsules and shoved it into his pant's pocket, then took out another capsule from deep within the bag. He tossed it to Sharpner, who knew instantly what it was and quickly put the object in his pocket without question. Since Gohan already had the rest of the equipment he needed strapped around his chest or in his pockets, the only things left in the bag were rope, a headphone set, a knife, and a very small box of capsules, which he handed to Videl. Finally, they were all set to begin their hurried plan.

Sharpner paused for a second, then asked, "Wait a sec, if this is to work, don't you think I need to look a little, well, more cleaned up?" Indeed, after his stressful last night and morning, Sharpner was quite the sad sight. This also caused Gohan to pause, but he soon discovered a way around the situation.

"Just brush your hair out, wash your face off, and, ah, take my sweatshirt. It's a lot cleaner," Gohan said as he stripped off his hooded sweatshirt, leaving him in only his tight, black tank top. Sharpner took the clothing from Gohan's hands gratefully, pulling it over his dirty, haven't-been-washed-in-days shirt, looking a lot better already. Then he pulled out his comb from his pants pocket and started combing out the large, ugly tangles.

Baffled, Videl starred at him like he had just grown horns. Out of all the things to have at a time like this, how the heck did he have a comb! Noticing the incredulous look on Videl's face, Gohan smiled, leaned over to her and said in her ear, "You'd think with the business we were in, he'd be more concerned about other things, right? Nope, he's still as vain as ever, especially when in comes to his hair. He ALWAYS has a comb in his pocket."

Obviously overhearing this comment, Sharpner sent Gohan a dirty look. "You say that now Mr. I-never-need-to-brush-my-hair, but you never know when a comb can come in handy," Sharpner said, then pocketed the small comb. "And I'm not vain," the blonde added as an after thought.

Gohan rolled his eyes, then wished Sharpner good luck as he headed in the opposite direction with Videl following courageously. Out of the corner of his eye, Gohan watched Sharpner confidently strut down the road toward the front entrance. 'Sometimes I can't help but wonder how that idiot can be so brave in a moment like this. Good luck, my friend, and be careful. I'm expecting your return,' Gohan thought to himself, silently cheering his friend on.

As soon as Gohan returned his attention to the mission at hand, he made a quick right into a blocked alleyway. He didn't make it very far though because when he looked back at Videl, she refused to enter the narrow space with him. Gohan was about to get frustrated with her, but then thought to try another tactic. He walked back to the place she stood frozen and looked deep into her eyes with his arms crossed, hoping that it would force information out of her.

Gulping, Videl crossed her arms also, but would not for the life of her look him in the eyes. Finally, in barely above a whisper, she said, "This looks like the place where it all started, where I was kidnaped." Shivering, she turned her back to him and stubbornly stood her ground.

Concerned, Gohan attempted to comfort her by putting his hand on her shoulder, but she flinched and shrugged his hand off. Sighing in frustration, Gohan tried to think of a solution quick before their time ran out, but his thoughts were too muddled.

"Look Videl, you're gonna have to trust me and face your fears here. Every second we stand here, the more time we waste in rescuing the girls, in rescuing Erasa," Gohan explained as patiently as he could, even though he knew it didn't sound comforting at all.

Videl spun around abruptly, Gohan's words obviously affecting her. Before Gohan even knew what happened, Videl took off down the alley with a determined expression on her face. Soon, Gohan was helping Videl over a brick wall, which he climbed over with ease, and found themselves heading toward the rear of the same wrecked building Sharpner was entering at that very moment.

* * *

Knocking loudly on the door, Sharpner stood outside with his arms crossed, a scowl on his face. Secretly, he was enjoying this chance at role playing. When he was younger, he thought he might grow up to be a famous actor who got all the girls. Now, he's still an actor, but for an unknowing audience. And he was still getting all the girls, but not in the way he had planned. 

Through the peep hole appeared a dark, dangerous looking brown eye searching around for Sharpner. Before Sharpner even had to say anything though, the man on the other side of the door opened the steel locked entry for Sharpner to see him. Not surprisingly, it was the same man that had first greeted Gohan when Gohan had played the part of a customer.

"Welcome. We hold a tight business here so I must ask for you to pay up front right here. We do not give refunds for a lousy lay," this man put as simply as he had to Gohan. Sharpner pulled out the capsule Gohan had given him before they went separate ways. He pushed the button on the top and out came a large bag full of jewelry ranging from beautiful necklaces to diamond studded rings. The vast amount even startled Sharpner, which the young man was able to hide well.

The greeting man's eyes grew large at the sight and he was about to take the whole bag when Sharpner snatched it away. Pulling out an especially expensive looking necklace, Sharpner examined it carefully first before handing it over to the man, trying his best to appear tormented about giving away one of his "prized" possessions. "This should pay for it wonderfully, am I right?" Sharpner said to the man who greedily took the piece of jewelry and with a nod, went into another room.

Coming back in with the necklace missing, the man who had greeted him told Sharpner, as politely as he could manage, to follow him up a stairway. As Gohan had done, he waited in a small room for someone to come get him to pick out his woman for the night.

Soon, within a matter of minutes, another man stepped into the room. This man was as equally large as the greeter, but he had a less intimidating posture. Impatiently, the man said to Sharpner, "Welcome to our establishment. My name is Dagger and I am stepping in for our boss, who regretfully couldn't be here for such a fine paying customer such as yourself. If you would just follow me, we have a rather large selection of ladies for you to choose from."

Confidently, Sharpner sprang up to his feet and accompanied the man, now known as Dagger, to another room in the small run-down place. As he passed a certain room along the way, Sharpner was hit with a very familiar smell. 'Oh no, they can't be starting yet! I must act quickly if we're going to have time to finish this mission successfully!' Sharpner thought to himself in a slight bit of panic. He noticed that they had stopped walking now and were standing outside a doorway.

The moment he entered into the room, his nerves went crashing to the floor. All the girls in the room looked deathly pale and scared out of their minds. Many of their faces were tear streaked with red eyes, hinting at long hours spent crying. What had they done to them to make the girls look so miserable? Sharpner was so disgusted that he almost forgot his role as a hungry customer, but quickly recovered before his slip could be noticed.

Whirling around on Dagger, Sharpner yelled, "What is the meaning of this! These girls look near dead! There's no way I'm spending my money on any of them!" Sharpner was now glaring at Dagger in anger, his breath coming faster and faster to him. He had to figure a way around this quickly, but nothing was coming to mind. Then it hit him and he knew exactly what to do.

Running his fingers through his hair in a sign of frustration, Sharpner pretended to calm down. "Look," he began, "how about I make you a deal? I'll give you this here diamond ring and gold watch if you let me have an hour with all these girls in this room right now. With as sickening as these girls look, you can't expect anything more."

Clearly hesitant, Dagger stroked his chin in thought. His boss would probably be angry with him for doing this, but what he didn't know can't hurt him. Besides, they've never made that much money in one night, let alone from one man!

"Ok, it's a deal. But only ONE hour, got it?" Dagger said gruffly, making a swipe for the items Sharpner held carelessly in his hand. Smirking, Sharpner let the greedy man take the jewelry out of his hand and stuff them into his front pocket.

"It's a pleasure doing business for you," Sharpner said with a mocking bow. He turned his back on Dagger and started walking toward the girls as Dagger walked out the door. "Oh," Sharpner called over his shoulder, "don't forget to lock the door. I do like my privacy." With that, the door was slammed angrily and locks could be heard hastily being fastened into place.

As soon as the idiotic man was gone, Sharpner's face made a complete change from confident jerk to determined hero. Quickly, Sharpner snatched his headset out from under his shirt and adjusted it so that he could communicate with Gohan. "Gohan, can you hear me?"

There was some interference, but nothing too bad that he couldn't hear the reply. "Yes, where are you?" Came Gohan's voice from the other end.

"You have to hurry. I'm in the big room, you know, the one where they put the girls when choosing. I have all the girls in here with me and the door's locked. I'll explain later, but for now, you have to hurry," Sharpner replied hastily as he quickly made his way to the window. All the girls scattered as he made his way toward their direction, but for the moment, he didn't care.

Crackling, Gohan's reply could barely be heard. "Ok, we're on our way. Don't do anything until we get there," Gohan said before his signal was lost completely.

Turning around, Sharpner let out a huge sign. This was going to be the hardest part yet. "Alright," he said quietly to the girls, "My name's Sharpner and I'm from PVPA, which stands for Predator Victim Protection Association. Actually, that doesn't matter anymore. What matters is my team and I have been sent here to rescue you all from the UPO. My team will be here any minute so I need you all to gather around so I can tell you our plan. And, please, we need to hurry!"

* * *

"Gohan, how are we going to get past those guards over there? I don't know about you, but I don't want to have to fight off a bad guy with a fully loaded gun!" Videl whispered heatedly in Gohan's ear as she crouched behind him in the bushes. They had finally made their way to the other side of the building where Videl told Gohan the "judgement room" was. Now, they were just trying to figure out a way to pull off their plan without getting caught. 

"I have an idea. Wait here," Gohan said as he grabbed a large rock laying on the dirt beside him. When the guards had their backs turned for a split second, he hurtled the heavy rock to nearby bushes which made just the right noise he was looking for. Quickly, the guards chased after the noise and Gohan smirked. "I'll be right back," he said before disappearing into the bushes.

Silently, without making a single sound, Gohan crept to the area the guards were searching. He waited patiently for one of the guards to wander his way and when one did, he quickly chopped the man on the back of the neck. The burly man went down without even as much as a sound. Before any of the other four guards could find the man on the floor, Gohan changed his position to make another attack. Soon, he had taken down all the guards by surprise without a single utterance escaping any oftheir lips.

Only a few minutes after he had left Videl, he was back again. She gave him a questioning look, to which he replied, "Don't worry, I took care of them. They should be out for a while, but we still need to hurry. There's too many guards for me to sneak up on as I did with those five idiots."

Videl nodded, then followed closely behind Gohan as he made his way across the small dirt opening and right up to the back side of the building. With skills that surprised Videl, Gohan somehow scaled the brick building all the way up to the small window at the top. Once up there, he tapped on it lightly, hoping against hope that it was Sharpner who was on the other side. To his great relief and joy, it was Sharpner who lifted the glass window and greeted him silently.

Gohan pulled out a rope from around his shoulder and handed it to Sharpner, who took it quickly and stepped aside so that Gohan could climb in. Videl began to panic when she lost sight of Gohan, but was reassured when his head poked back out again as he lowered the rope to her below. Videl promptly grabbed her side of it and was about to start climbing when she was pulled up by Gohan faster then she would have been able to climb. He seemed to amaze her more and more every second she spent with him.

Within a matter of moments, Videl had climbed into the room, which soon filled with excited exclamations when she was recognized by the other ladies. Videl ignored all this though, she only had one person in mind. Searching through the crowd, she tried to find her favorite blonde friend, but Erasa was nowhere to be found. That caused Videl to panic and a sickening feeling rose in her stomach.

Suddenly, one of the few redheads out of all the girls whispered into Videl's ear, "you're looking for that one blonde girl, right? She's not in here. They took her into another room. They said something like she was going to be the first for something. With the way they've been acting, we all have been worried for her."

Upon hearing this new information, Videl whirled around to find Gohan. She rapidly crossed the room to where he was preparing to lower the first girl. When he saw her scared, panicked look, he knew something was wrong and stopped what he was doing. "What's wrong Vi-" he began before she cut him off.

"They've taken her! She's in another room, Gohan! They picked her to be first, of all the people, they picked her! Oh Kami, Gohan! We've got to save her!" Videl bitterly choked out as she pounded her small fists into Gohan's chest disheartedly.

Worriedly, Gohan said passionately, "I'll save her, Videl." Then he turned to Sharpner and said, "I need you to take care of these girls and get them out of here safely. I'm going to go take care of something first."

"No way, Gohan," Sharpner answered to Gohan's command. "I'll go and save the girl. No, don't try to tell me otherwise, Gohan! Listen, you know that the girls here are far safer with you then me. They're going to need you to get out of here. Kami, Gohan! If you guys were to run into trouble out there, we both know that you're their best bet to make it out alright! I couldn't do anything to protect them all! Besides, it's time for me to actually do something meaningful, you know? I can do this. I _will _save her."

Sharpner's profound speech left Gohan without words. What was he suppose to say to the determined man in front of him after that? No, he was going to put his faith in him and hope for the best. So, reluctantly, Gohan nodded and watched as Sharpner stealthily exited the room in search of Erasa.

Shaking out of his daze, Gohan glanced down at his watch. They'd already wasted a half hour! Rapidly, Gohan looped the end of the rope and placed it around one of the startled girls' waist. Gently, he let her climb out the window, shaking in fear, and lowered her with great speed to the ground. This he did over and over again until everyone except he and Videl were on the floor outside.

"Alright Videl, grab on and we can get out of this place for good," Gohan said as he tossed Videl one end of the thick rope. Videl hesitated though, then tossed the rope back at Gohan, which he was able to catch with ease.

"No, I wont go without Erasa!" Videl said stubbornly, shaking with worry and fear for her friend. As gently as Gohan was able to muster at the time, he wrapped his arms around the stiff girl and walked her toward the window. She saw his plan the moment he tried to lift her. She began to fight him, kicking and flailing fisted hands about.

Easily keeping Videl wrapped in his arms, Gohan said in a demanding tone, "Videl, there's nothing you can do for her now. You have to trust Sharpner to bring her back to you! Besides, I need you right now and I'm not going to let you do something as stupid as risk your life waiting around here for her!" With that said, he jumped out the window with her in his arms, completely discarding the rope as it fell to the floor below them.

He landed softly on the dirt, both he and Videl safe from the long jump. Videl had stopped struggling the moment he had leapt into the air. Whether it was his words that had made her stop or her fear of falling to her death, he didn't know, but whatever it was, he was glad for it.

Gathering up the girls with as much speed as he could summon at the instant, he led them back into the bushes, through a hole in the fencing, through an alleyway, and back to his car. When they reached the street, he grabbed a capsule from his pocket and threw it to the floor on the road. Out from the smoke came a large van, bigger than the usual size. For once he was glad that Bulma had sent him all her prototype vehicles for him to test out because this stealth van was just what they needed.

Gohan pulled open the doors in back of the van and instructed all the girls to climb in and squeeze together as much as they could. "Sorry for the close fit, but you'll just have to make due for now," Gohan said as he helped all the girls in one by one. Before long, all the ladies were tightly crowded together and Gohan was able to shut the door after them.

"Ok, now that that's taken care of, you and I are going to go see what we can do to help Sharpner with rescuing Erasa," Gohan said to Videl, then as an afterthought, opened the door to the van and said to the girls waiting, "Just stay right here for now and I promise we'll be right back. Yeah, so wait here and don't touch anything."

After that was said, Gohan shut the door again and hurried Videl back to the bushes, but this time, they went toward the side partof thebuilding to see if Sharpner had made it out of there already and whether he went through the front or back. They didn't see them anywhere and were starting to get nervous. The rescue team only had ten minutes left before the men in the "establishment" noticed that all the girls were gone. Talk about cutting it close!

* * *

Meanwhile, Sharpner was having an extremely difficult time weaving in and out of the rooms to avoid the guards walking around the hallways. He knew he didn't have much time left, but he didn't have a clue which room this girl was in! One time, while sneaking into a room, he accidently stumbled into a desk and knocked it over, creating a loud bang. He quickly scrambled to put it back into place and dove into a dark corner on the other side of the room. The second he had dove into the corner, one of the bulky guards opened the door and peered inside. 

When the guard saw nothing worthwhile, he grumbled underneath his breath, "I could have sworn... ha, it must have been part of that stupid experiment they're doing. Maybe I should go check and see."

'Bingo, I've found my answer. Dude, I rock!' Sharpner thought to himself as he quietly inched out the door and followed the guard as he walked down the hall. Sharpner paused behind one corner and watched from his hiding place as the large guard knocked on a door at the end of the next hallway. The ugly red door opened, a few words were exchanged between the guard and a man on the other side, and the guard walked away to continue with his watch.

Sharpner waited until the guard went out of sight before he dashed for the door. He could only imagine what was happening on the other side or how many people he'd find in there, but his time was very limited at the moment. So, he knocked on the door and stepped into the shadows.

"What do you want now?" A gruff voice came from the small crack of an opening in the doorway. From the sounds of it, this man had been up all night working and hadn't had the slightest amount of sleep. 'This is good, it must mean that he has no one to fill in for him, meaning either he's the only one in there or there's only a small number,' Sharpner thought to himself before he replied.

"There's trouble downstairs with a new customer. He's quite the strong one and wont pay without talking to someone higher up," Sharpner lied, hoping that the made-up story would be bought. To his great relief, Sharpner watched the man step out the door grumbling, not even thinking to look back at who had given him the information.

"Perfect," Sharpner whispered to himself, then smoothly slid inside the room before the door was shut. The lights were dim, very dim, so much so that he could hardly see what was in front of him. Moments after he had found himself a hiding place behind a cart in the corner, the lights flickered back on, but still fainter then usually kept.

Now, Sharpner was able to see the room muchmore clearlythan he could before. To his utter horror though, what he saw now he almost wished that the lights had remained off. In the middle of the room, a beautiful blonde girl laid strapped into place on a metal table dressed only in herunderwear. Tears were flowing from her eyes, but her sobs were muffled by a rag shoved in her mouth, held in by tape. A creepy, large man in a white laboratory suit was standing over her with a needle in his hand, trying to find the best place to stick it into her skin.

Without even thinking about what would happen next, Sharpner leapt onto the man's back, startling him enough to force him to drop the needle, which shattered when it hit the floor.

"Nnnoooo!" The man cried when the glass needle shattered on the floor. With surprising strength, he ripped Sharpner from off his back and threw him against the opposite wall. Sharpner hitthe wallso hard,it collapsed in on top of him. Beneath the pile of wreckage, Sharpner laid in pain for long moments as he listened to his opponent's scream in anger. While ranting about, the man knocked over a bottle with a purple liquid in it, which, like the needle, fell to the floor and shattered.

The instant it made contact with the material from the needle, a spark began to take form. Pretty soon, the spark had grown to a large fire that was threatening to take over the whole building, let alone the whole room the three people were in at this very point in time.

Cursing the entire way out the door, the man wearing the lab coat ran for his life. The fire had now consumed the back wall and was now licking at the feet of the table the girl was strapped to. If Sharpner didn't hurry, he wouldn't be able to rescue her in time. And he had to rescue her!

Clenching his teeth, Sharpner attempted to shift the weight of the bricks from off of him, but as soon as he moved his right leg, unbearable pain shot up through his back and all throughout his body. He gasped from the pain the movement caused, knowing without a doubt he had broken his leg. Too determined to give up though, Sharpner pushed through the pain, screaming only once, and was finally able to remove the junk that had crushed him against the dirty wood floor.

Gasping in pain unknown to him before, Sharpner limped over to the terrified young women strapped to the table. Without a word, he unbolted the metal straps that bound her to the table, burning his hand when it came time to take off the ones on her forearms, which also burnt her skin a great measure, he noticed.

Free at last, Erasa jumped down from the table and removed the gag from her mouth in order to thank her rescuer. There was no time for that though because the fire had moved onto the door, which meant there only way out was to jump out of a two story high building through the hole made in the wall when Sharpner had been throw against it. Now what were they suppose to do?

* * *

"Look, fire!" Videl pointed out to Gohan from their hiding spot in the bushes. Gohan snapped his head in the direction Videl was pointing and saw one of the rooms on the other side of the building with a large hole letting flames escape into the night air. They only hadfive minutes left before they needed to be gone from this place, but now that a fire had been started, their time was up and still no sign of Sharpner and Erasa! 

Squinting through the smoke, Gohan was able to spot two figures standing near the edge of the hole, ready to jump asit looked like. Knowing that it had to be Sharpner and Erasa, he sprinted faster than he'd ever allowed a human to see before. Right now, he didn't care if this rose suspicion with Videl, he was too worried about saving the two peopleto care.

Now standing below the two beings in the top room, he yelled above the roar of the fire, "Jump!" There was no time for them to hesitate so Erasa jumped first. Gohan easily caught her in his arms and placed her down gently, then returned his attention back to Sharpner. Even though this would probably hurt his pride, Sharpner jumped to save his life and Gohan caught him. When he put Sharpner down, Gohan heard him take a quick intake of breath out of pain. Gohan knew right there that Sharpner had injured himself badly.

With no time left to spare, Gohan threw Sharpner over one shoulder, then Erasa over the other and took off running to the bushes. Once he was back again, he grabbed a very shocked Videl and put her on the same shoulder Erasa was on. This time he slowed down a bit to be extra careful, in case Sharpner's injuries could be aggravated by the intense speed.

Gohan looked back over his shoulder to watch the commotion happening in the building. Most guards were running all around the building, searching for the girls and the people who took them. The rest of the guards appeared to be trying to extinguish the fire before it spread, but it was too late; the flames had reached the room below and next to it.

Satisfied with their work, Gohan smirked as he made his way back to the large van the girls were in. Softly, Gohan placed the astonied women on their feet, but opened the door to the passenger seat and lightly sat Sharpner down.

"I can manage fine on my own," Sharpner said, but couldn't help the forced smile of gratitude from reaching his face. Gohan just rolled his eyes and closed the door, then turned to Videl and Erasa. Both girls were crying into the others hair as they hugged each other tightly, refusing to let go for the time being. Gohan hated to break up their tearful reunion, but they had to get out of there now.

"Sorry, but we got to hurry. Come on!" Gohan said, then quickly walked around the other side of the van. He let the two girls in first, who squeezed in close to Sharpner, trying not to hurt him more then he already was. Gohan then climbed in his self and started the van, but then remembered his truck parked on the other side of the road. Taking the risk, he hopped out of the van and rummaged through his pockets for a capsule to de-capsule his truck, which he found fairly quick.

"Alright, here we go!" Gohan said as he climbed back into the van and pushed the stealth button, the same type that was in his truck. Then they drove off, away from the pain and disaster behind them, and into what they thought would be a bright, happy future. But boy were they wrong.


End file.
